publications

In preperation for submission: How routine tasks affect labor market inequalities between vocational and tertiary graduates over the career

How do routine tasks shape disparities in income and employment prospects between workers with vocational and tertiary educational qualifications? While existing research predominantly emphasizes skill differentials as the primary driver, this study proposes that group differences in the prevalence and returns to routine tasks contribute to existing disparities. Using decomposition methods on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the BiBB/BAuA Employment Survey, we examine how compositional differences in routine task performance between vocational and tertiary graduates impact differences in labor market outcomes over individuals’ careers. We find that vocationally trained workers tend to perform more routine tasks than their university-educated counterparts. This compositional difference explains part of the income gap but does not affect unemployment risk. While group-specific levels of routine task intensity remain relatively stable, the returns to these tasks diminish over the life course, contributing substantially to the widening income gap between vocational and tertiary graduates over their careers.

Published: Life-Course Differences in Occupational Mobility Between Vocationally and Generally Trained Workers in Germany

Vocational education is considered beneficial to young workers entering the labor market but disadvantageous late in their careers. Many studies assume that late-career disadvantages stem from lower levels of occupational mobility, but do not explicitly study this mechanism. This study is the first to empirically assess whether and to what extent occupational mobility differs between workers with a general education and those with vocational training and to examine how these differences develop over workers’ life courses. Using multilevel linear probability models on panel data spanning 36 years of labor market participation in Germany, we find that vocationally educated workers are less mobile, but only in the first half of their careers. In the second half, mobility rates for vocationally and generally trained workers converge. Our findings support earlier research that links vocational education to less turbulent early careers. Yet, they do not support the notion of late-career mobility disparities between workers with different types of training. Implications for research on education-based differences in career outcomes are discussed.

Decker, Viktor, Thijs Bol, and Hanno Kruse. 2023. ‘Life-Course Differences in Occupational Mobility Between Vocationally and Generally Trained Workers in Germany’. Sociological Science 10:857–79. https://doi.org/10.15195/v10.a30.