From Education to Work: Cross National Perspectives

Structural transformations in the international economy and the restructuring of work have made the transition from education to employment increasingly problematic. School-to-work pathways have become more socially segmented and the risk of under-employment and joblessness have increased for both vocationally and academically educated youth. Continuous passages have become less common and have given way to multiple entries and exits between schooling and working, under-employment, unemployment and domestic work. This edited volume of empirical studies is based on a series of comparable longitudinal research projects which draw on survey and biographical data from important players in the international economy, the US, Great Britain, Canada, and Germany. The studies document that social and gender inequality is a persistent structural feature that restricts the possibilities to take advantage of educational opportunities and career options. Furthermore, different institutional arrangements are shown to play a crucial role in distributing transition opportunities in a more equal way.

• First book to look at the institutional and individual effects of economic restructuring on the education-to-employment transition in a comparative sociological perspective • Analyzes cross-national patterns as well as the variability of transitions within societies • Focuses on dynamic, longitudinal life-course approach and its emphasis on both structure and agency

Introduction: transitions to employment in a cross-national perspective Walter R. Heinz; Part I. Social Origin, Gender, and Transition Patterns: 1. Social and geographical mobility 20 years after High-School Paul Anisef andAnton H. Turrittin; 2. Diverse directions: young adults’ multiple transitions Zeng Lin, Victor Thiessen and E. Dianne Looker; 3. New routes to employment: integration and exclusion John Bynner; 4. From education to employment: occupations and careers in the social transformation of East Germany Ansgar Weymann; Part II. Education and Labour Markets: Work Experiences, Skills and Credentials: 5. Adolescent part-time work and post-secondary transitions in the United States Jeylan T. Mortimer and Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson; 6. Multiple life-sphere participation by young adults Lesley Andres; 7. The Sub-Baccalaureate labour market in the United States: challenges for the school-to-work transition W. Norton Grubb; 8. Creating new pathways to adulthood by adapting German apprenticeship in the United States Stephen F. Hamilton and Mary Agnes Hamilton; 9. Job entry patterns in a life-course perspective Walter R. Heinz; Part III. Changes in the Social Context of Transformations: 10. Institutional networks and informal strategies for improving work entry for youth James E. Rosenbaum; 11. School-work transitions and post-modern values: what’s changing in Canada? Harvey Krahn and Graham S. Lowe; 12. Education and employment in Great Britain: the polarizing impact of the Market Frank Coffield; 13. From systems to networks: the reconstruction of youth transitions in Europe Lynne Chisholm.