„No Dead End Qualifications“: Transition from School to Work in NRW

Objective and Tasks

On the basis of a concept developed within the framework of the training consensus (a committee of representatives of the trade union and employer organizations and the government), North Rhine-Westphalia was the first federal state to introduce a state-wide, binding transition system in 2011. The state-wide project “No Dead-End Qualifications” (in German: “Kein Abschluss ohne Anschluss”) was part of the state's preventive youth, social, economic and labour market policy and was intended to support and accompany all young people at an early stage in their vocational and academic orientation, choice of occupation and entry into training. It was intended to ensure that young people in all types of schools were given a guaranteed perspective for an appropriate path for their vocational training.

The aim of the evaluation was to analyse the first experiences of stakeholders concerning the implementation and the results among the first school student cohorts. In particular, the evaluation examined the effectiveness of targeted career guidance measures in schools and took into account the influence of municipal structures, processes and concepts.

The following key questions were used to assess the effectiveness of the measures:

• How transparent and informative are the process of career guidance and its elements from the school students' point of view? Do the measures contribute to a higher self-efficacy?
• To what extent and how can a concrete perspective be developed and implemented for the different groups of school students?
• To what extent is the choice of an educational pathway characterized by a better information basis and greater decision-making certainty after the process of career guidance?
• To what extent and how can orientation towards traditional gender roles be reduced?
• How do different players evaluate the process of career guidance and its results (schools, counselling – employment agencies, youth welfare – companies, associations, vocational schools)?
• To what extent are parents successfully integrated and supported in the transition process?

The research concept was characterized by a mix of methods and a differentiation of addressees. The overall project is divided into several surveys which are linked to each other.

• Online survey of the municipal coordination centres,
• Municipal case studies in five reference municipalities and five other municipalities,
• Surveys of school students in all types of schools (special needs school, secondary school, middle school, grammar school and comprehensive school) in 8th, 9th and 10th grade (school year 2014/15) including a follow-up survey of former 10th-grade students

The project was carried out in a consortium consisting of the Institute for Work, Skills and Training, in German Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation (IAQ), the Institute of Work Science, in German Institut für Arbeitswissenschaft (IAW) and the Institute for Social Research and Communication, in German Institut für Sozialforschung und Kommunikation (SOKO). The IAQ was responsible for the overall coordination, the surveys on municipal structures, processes and concepts via the online survey and the case studies and – together with the IAW – for the preparation of the reports and the development of the recommendations for action. The central tasks of the IAW were the conception and evaluation of the school student surveys as well as the impact analyses and overall evaluation. The SOKO Institute carried out the school student surveys.