Vocational versus general education

Vocational versus general education

The latest issue of LIVES Impact, co-authored by Pascal Maeder and Maïlys Korber, investigates the differences in terms of professional perspectives in Switzerland between individuals who have followed a vocational training and those who have opted for a general education.

Vocational education and training (VET) is known to ease the entry into the labour market by providing specific skills that are readily applicable in a given occupation. This type of education may enable young individuals to find a good match at the beginning of their career, but it may also leave older workers vulnerable to technological change and shifts in the occupational structure. On the other hand, holders of general education may face more difficulties when entering the labour market due to a lack of work-related skills but may be better rewarded after several years of experience due to the larger flexibility of general skills. To address this question, Maïlys Korber investigated employment and wages over the life course for holders of vocational education, and compared them with holders of general education, both at the upper-secondary level. A summary of the results is presented in this policy brief. The following key messages are developped in this issue:

  • Vocational training and education (VET) is associated with an employment advantage for men when compared with upper secondary general education (GE) up to age 30. Thereafter, both groups have similarly high employment rates.
  • The employment prospects of women are very similar over the life course regardless of vocational or general education.
  • General education is associated with higher hourly wage for both men and women over the life course. Initially, men with a VET earn more until age 30 whilst GE trained women already enjoy an advantage at age 26.

Read the integrality of this issue
Printable short version

LIVES Impact (ISSN: 2297-6124) publishes regularly briefs with policy-relevant research findings from studies conducted at the National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES “Overcoming Vulnerability: Life-course perspectives” (NCCR LIVES). It is aimed at professionals, public officials and representatives active in social policy and related fields

Series Editor: Pascal Maeder, KTT Officer, pascal.maeder@hes-so.ch 

LIVES Best paper award - 2020 edition

LIVES Best paper award - 2020 edition

In order to stimulate advances in the areas of vulnerability and life course studies, the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES encourages scholars at the beginning of their career to apply to the LIVES Best Paper Award for Early Scholars. Deadline for the 2020 application: 30 June 2020.

The award was usually delivered during the Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (SLLS) conference taking place in Germany at the University of Potsdam. Due to the COVID-19 situation, there will be no ceremony for this Award this year. However, we kindly ask the winner to send us a selfie with the prize upon reception, which will be sent out by postal mail. We will gladly post your picture on our website.

Send your application and read the participation criteria on our webform

Good luck!

LIVES Call for Research Projects

LIVES Call for Research Projects

The NCCR LIVES "Overcoming vulnerabiliy: Life course perspective" invites advanced researchers to submit a research project proposition with an international collaboration until June 30, 2020.

The funding will start as of January 2021 at the earliest and will finish at the end of 2022 at the latest.

The amount for the funding of this call is 600,000 CHF for 3 projects (200,000 CHF per project). There is possibility to hire a post-doc for this type of project (but not for a PhD student given the short delay).

All details can be found on this webpage: "Call for contributions - LIVES international research project call"

Please do not hesitate to contact us at Lives.scientific@unil.ch for more information.

SLLS Summer School 2020 - Cancelled

Due to the COVID-19 situation, the 2020 SLLS Summer School on Longitudinal and Life Course Research has been cancelled.

IEE Webinar - Event Studies, Endogenous Timing and the Child Penalty

The child penalty is widely regarded as a main driver of the gender wage gap. This paper contributes to the literature by combining an event study framework with instrumental variables (IV) using the outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Norway as instruments.

The next IEE Webinar will be held online on Wednesday 13 May 2020 from 14:15 to 15:45. (see access on Zoom below)

Prof. Edwin LEUVEN (University of Oslo, Norway) will give the lecture:
Event Studies, Endogenous Timing and the Child Penalty

The child penalty is widely regarded as a main driver of the gender wage gap. This paper contributes to the literature by combining an event study framework with instrumental variables (IV) using the outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Norway as instruments. We find that the endogeneity of fertility timing introduces substantial omitted variable bias in a regular OLS event study, while delayed fertility and intensive margin fertility responses lead to bias in previous IV estimates using IVF treatments. Our approach addresses these issues by centering time on the age of child rather than on time of the IVF attempt, and by instrumenting first and second births. The resulting estimates show that (i) fertility has short-lived negative effects on mother's earnings that mostly disappear after two to three years; (ii) effects are similar for the extensive and intensive margin of fertility; and (iii) partners are shielded from any negative effects.

Access

Please join Zoom meeting : https://unige.zoom.us/j/779077632
Meeting ID: 779077632
Password: 1211

Housing and social ties: what are the challenges for senior citizens?

Housing and social ties: what are the challenges for senior citizens?

Life expectancy is increasing, and with it challenges related to the living environments of senior citizens. The Rendez-vous Leenaards Age & Society 2019 event will address these issues on Thursday, 28 November, from 16:30 to 18:30 in Pully (free and open to all upon registration).

Hosted by Blaise Willa, editor-in-chief of the magazine Générations, this Rendez-vous Leenaards will be an opportunity to present the winning projects of the 2019 “Quality of Life 65+” prize – supported by a total sum of more than CHF 1 million – as well as the pilot initiatives under way on the theme of housing. This public event will provide a platform for discussion on the main issues relating to the housing of senior citizens in French-speaking Switzerland, featuring, among others, Prof. Dario Spini, director of NCCR LIVES, and Fabrice Ghelfi, director of the Directorate General for Social Cohesion of the canton of Vaud. 

On this occasion, the results of the Age Report IV an extensive survey of more than 2,500 older people on their housing aspirations will also be presented (www.age-report.ch/fr/) by Prof. Valérie Hugentobler (School of Social Work and Health, HETSL), co-author of the report.

Read more about the Rendez-vous Leenaards âge & société

Registration on www.leenaards.ch/rdvas28nov2019