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The role of vocational education in the transmission of gender segregation from education to employment: Switzerland and Bulgaria compared

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  • Melina Heiniger

    (University of Bern)

  • Christian Imdorf

    (Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU
    Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Previous comparative research has uncovered considerable cross-country differences in occupational gender segregation. There is, however, a lack of research on the role of educational systems in the creation of gender segregation and gendered school-to-work transitions. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of vocational education and the strength of the education–employment linkage in the transmission of horizontal gender segregation from education into the labour market. Transition system literature points to a stronger linkage between education and employment in countries where initial vocational education and training dominates the educational offers, and to a weaker linkage in countries with a stronger focus on general education. Moreover, research on gender segregation in education shows that segregation is especially pronounced in educational systems with a strong vocational education and training sector on the upper secondary level. Based on these insights, we hypothesize that gender segregation in education and its transmission to employment is more pronounced the more distinct a country’s initial vocational education and training system is. To test our assumption, we compare individual school-to-work transitions in Switzerland and Bulgaria, with the vocational principle being more prevalent in the structuring of Swiss educational offers. We use data from the Swiss Youth Panel Survey TREE (N = 3215) and the Bulgarian School Leaver Survey BSLS (N = 885). Following recent developments in multi-group segregation research, entropy-based measurements are calculated to study the school-to-work linkages and the transmission of gender segregation in the two select countries. The empirical results confirm a more pronounced educational gender segregation in Switzerland, which is transferred more strongly into the labour market due to the tighter linkage in that country between education and employment compared to Bulgaria.

Suggested Citation

  • Melina Heiniger & Christian Imdorf, 2018. "The role of vocational education in the transmission of gender segregation from education to employment: Switzerland and Bulgaria compared," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabrs:v:52:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s12651-018-0248-6
    DOI: 10.1186/s12651-018-0248-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:iab:iabjlr:v:52:i:1:p:art.15 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. By Barbara Mueller & Jürg Schweri, 2015. "How specific is apprenticeship training? Evidence from inter-firm and occupational mobility after graduation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1057-1077.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Imdorf & Matthias Pohlig, 2021. "La sélection sur le marché du travail selon les ruptures dans le parcours antérieur comparaison Suisse et Bulgarie," Post-Print halshs-03364147, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender segregation; Vocational education; Labour market; Education–employment linkage; Bulgaria; Switzerland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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