Jens Kaluza

Reconstructing fate as choice

The question ofwhether social changes have created a period of extended dependency in young people’s transitions is central to the UK Economic and Social Research Council’s ’Youth Citizenship and Social Change’ Research Programme. This project investigates how young adults experience control and exercise personal agency during periods of transition in education, training, work and unemployment, and in their personal lives. It focuses on three areas experiencing economic transformations in England and the new Germany: Leipzig, Hannover and Derby. Both England and Germany have new centre-left governments which support the redistribution of powerand wealth. They aim to achieve this through new opportunities for individuals to work and learn rather than through traditional policies and mechanisms. This involves structural reform of welfare and social insurance systems combined with a sustained increase in employment. Both governments call for substantial contributions from education and training systems. England is expanding Further and Higher Education and has introduced the ’New Deal’ for unemployed people, while Germany has revived the alliance of Federal Government, industrial associations and trade unions.

From ‘Old’ to ‘New’: Continuities and Discontinuities as Experienced by a Group of Trainers

This chapter reports the findings of interviews with trainers who had experience of training practice in their industry both in the GDR and in the post-communist situation of the FRG. The metal and electrical industries were major state industries in GDR and remain as relatively large employers and providers of training in the new Lander.1

Systems under Strain: Labour Market Conditions and Training Options

The political aims of the democratic citizen movement in the GDR remained unheard by those acting for a quick unification. When on 31 August 1990 the governments of the two postwar German states signed the unification treaty they put an end to the hopes and visions of those in the East and West for a new, different republic. It was the end of a short but painful struggle between ‘takeover’ and ‘democratic revival’.

Navigating Changes in Work and Education: Conclusions Relevant to Policy in Europe

Our research began with two propositions to be explored: 1 that if the dual system of VET can be made to work anywhere, under modern market conditions, then it should work in the new Lander of Germany; 2 that the fluid conditions created by the accession of the new Lander to the FRG created objectively greater risks and chances which encourage (and reward) personal agency and proactive transition behaviours in early careers. Exploration of these two issues has relevance beyond the East of Germany, since it confronts questions central to contemporary European policy debates on the future sustainability of highly regulated and institutionalized systems of VET, as represented by the German dual system; the socio-economic alternatives as represented by British labour market and educational policy developments; and the relevance of promoting ‘action competences’ as a means of managing youth transitions under conditions of economic transformation.

Perspectives, Plans and Methods

Our earlier Anglo-German comparative studies of transitions to employment and adult life investigated ways in which young adults negotiated institutional and labour market structures in the two countries. Extending the analysis of the relationships between institutional structures and individual action to the former East requires: 1. an examination of the introduction of the new institutional structures, particularly the ‘dual system’, and the labour market conditions under which they are operating; 2. investigation of the ways in which young adults are experiencing and negotiating these structures in the chosen labour market.

Risky Voyages: Learning Experiences, Transition Behaviours and Career Outcomes

In comparison with the interviews of the young employees, the trainers put subtly differentiated emphasis on different aspects of the training, although they represented only two different occupational groups. It is likely that the trainers gave answers in accordance with what ‘should’ be the result of good training, regardless of whether they themselves lived up to these expectations or not. The recipients of training give a narrower range of responses to questions on the training process, even though their occupational spread is far wider. Retrospectively the interviewees found the contents, structure and organization of the training good. Within Group A it is generally stated that the period of training left solid knowledge and capabilities (for their start in working life). In response to the question ‘what were the most difficult things that you had to learn?’ the interview data suggested that the new demands with which the young employees were confronted after their period of training were not primarily caused by professional or unusual company-specific features, but rather arose from the need to demonstrate interdisciplinary competencies such as initiative, responsibility, cooperation with colleagues, continuity of work and the ability to assert oneself.

Smooth Transitions: Young Adults’ Experiences of Vocational Education and Work Entry

For the majority of our Leipzig sample the transition process took place under the exceptional circumstances of the political changes. The earlier Anglo-German studies showed how the socio-economic and cultural contexts affected the routes which are taken to ‘adulthood’ and the importance of the socialization processes underlying skill formation. Those of the sample who began their apprenticeships under the GDR system had to adapt to a new political, social and economic situation while they were being trained or after they had finished their apprenticeship.

Labour Market Structures and the Processes of Transition

Considering the structural changes in the economy and the implications for the labour market, the analysis will focus on the school-towork transition as well as on the transition process into and out of employment. The previous Anglo-German studies concentrated on the school-to-training transitions. They showed how the training systems in Britain and West Germany have been contributing to labour market segmentation, since those who received training obtained qualifications designed for certain types of occupation. The entry level into the (western) training market therefore determines to a great extent which segment of the labour market a person will enter. According to Doeringer and Piore (1971) two segments can be distinguished: a primary and a secondary segment.