54 ms·
Most of those who go for vocational training don't have a "high-school degree" in the sense of 12 or more years of schooling. They may leave one of several type
by yorwba 6y ago
Most of those who go for vocational training don't have a "high-school degree" in the sense of 12 or more years of schooling. They may leave one of several types of secondary school with a degree after 10 years or even less. I believe the American term for someone like that is "high-school dropout". So a better analogy might be "The majority of German high-school dropouts spend 2-3 years as small-salary interns before they can get a real job."
Surely manual workers in the US are already learning to do their jobs somehow. What makes you think the German system would be an improvement?
- arbitrary_name 6y agoBecause from my limited understanding, it allowed them to easily participate in further vocational training to become well paid specialists or leaders. In addition, the support system was such that there were numerous opportunities across the Mittelstand, whereas in the USA is easy for dropouts to be stuck flipping burgers long term without support or guidance to turn their job as fry lord into a career or job that is more...sustainable.
- C1sc0cat 6y agoNot all of those apprenticeships are high level ones and I suspect there is much less possibility of starting as an apprentice and going all the way to a degree as say Mech Eng apprentice at BAE Systems might. This is the route I took BTW. I have had interviews just stop dead (with European companies) when it turned out I didn't have a Degree.
- C1sc0cat 6y agoAnd I believe that jumping tracks is harder in Germany - even after the EU made them reform the system.
- watwut 6y agoIt is distinctively not the same as "high school drop out". These are people who do go to school, finish it and get a degree. These are people "within the education system" who were taught to do specific thing. High school drop out did not finished the school he intended to and does not have degree. This is person who is "out of the education system" who are not assumed to know anything.
- yorwba 6y agoThe social status is of course different due to the lack of recognition for the "high school drop out", but the years of education received are similar.
- watwut 6y agoThe type of education is however completely different. Years of education is meaningless metric in this context. In one case you are learned woodworker (say) and in another ... nothing.
- yorwba 6y agoThe ten years of schooling are in both cases general education, so they should be pretty comparable. Woodworking is something the German would learn during their apprenticeship and the American on the job (presumably). How do companies who need skilled woodworkers in the US decide whom to hire? I'd guess they look for previous work experience. It's not clear to me whether an American who spent three years as an unskilled woodworker is any worse off in terms of job prospects than a German who spent three years as a woodworking apprentice.