Advanced Vocational Qualifications via Further Education and Training. A Second Chance for Women as Well?

Those who complete dual vocational training in Germany are able to achieve positions even without higher education entrance qualifications which in other countries can only be taken up by academics. Women are much less likely to take advantage of this "second chance" offered by advanced vocational qualifications than men. The reason for this is examined with the aid of the BIBB/BAUA Employment Survey from 2012. The analyses focus on three explanatory factors: career aspiration (preferences), family responsibilities (restrictions), the occupation trained for (opportunities). The results show that having children and having trained in a gender-typical occupation strengthen the (negative) gender effect, which is why conditional effects must be considered: the likelihood of vocational upskilling increases for men but decreases for women who have children and/or have trained in a gender-typical occupation. Given relatively similar baseline conditions (mixed occupations), men and women without children show comparable participation rates while mothers have significantly lower rates.