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Vocational Training Can Prompt Unemployment Later in Life, Study Finds

October 18, 2011, 5:06 am

Pursuit of a vocational education may help students in the short term, getting them a job when they might otherwise be unemployed, but by the time they reach the age of 50, they are more likely to be unemployed than are students who had pursued a general education, according to a working paper published on Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The paper—by Eric A. Hanushek of Stanford University, Ludger Woessmann of the University of Munich, and Lei Zhang of Tsinghua University, in Beijing—is based on data from 18 countries and finds the trade-off “most pronounced” in countries that emphasize apprenticeship programs for would-be vocational students.

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  • mycantarella

    I am feeling vindicated. I have been saying for a very long time that students need the general skills acquired in a solid and rigorous course of general education (liberal arts) that teaches reading, writing, critical thinking, research and problem solving– in whatever discipline the student chooses. Finding a passion where you can excell and engage the subject matter from a place of pleasure helps to foster a spirit of life long learning. Life long learning and use of the aforementioned skills are what propel students with liberal arts degrees to positions of leadership and greater life time employment. Ideal would be a hybrid which allows for teaching of some practical skills for immediate employment but integrated holistically with liberal arts courses for the longer term.My alma mater Bryn Mawr is engaging in what are called 360 courses that are creatively intriquing in that they are both practical and theoretical.
    Marcia Y. Cantarella, PhD Author of I CAN Finish College: The Overcome Any Obstacle and Get Your Degree Guide. 

  • cwm4c

    This study really doesn’t have this conclusion–it wants to.  From the upfront caveat that good enough data was not readily available to statements like, “where not being employed includes the unemployed, the retired, and homemaking at the time of the survey” that may actually indicate that the vocational cohort retires earlier due to better union pensions, slows to part-time work in other fields due to same, chooses to be the homemaker, etc. The study doesn’t allow for these options. European auto industry workers that start through apprenticeships do quite well–often earning more than their college educated peers, are exposed to and learn cutting edge technology continually, and often retire 10-20 years earlier with comparable or better pensions.  These apprenticeships can be quite rigorous and do teach critical thinking skills also. They are not diametrically opposed to general education.

    Then caveats on their conclusions such as:”In the U.S. and other countries without a noteworthy vocational education system, the employment probability of individuals with different types of education does not vary with age at all, whereas in most of the European countries in the sample, the age-employment pattern differs and sometimes quite significantly between individuals with general and vocational education.”  AND: “Preliminary results about lifetime earnings are mixed for the apprenticeship countries, with apprenticeships having a positive return in Switzerland but not in Denmark and Germany,” raise many doubts.

  • unusedusername

    This study completely misses the point.  Yes, of course college graduates are less likely to be unemployed than people with vocational training, but that doesn’t mean that more people should go to college.  People in the NBA make high incomes, but that doesn’t mean we should all join the NBA.

    The study that should have been done is comparing people who got vocational training to other people of the same academic ability.  I await that study, but I’m not holding my breath.

  • co80121

    @unusedusername: perhaps you have not had the chance to click the link and read the article but  the results remain robust even after accounting for ability patterns and propensity-score matching. To translate, this means that they have accounted for academic ability. So if you have been holding your breath you may now exhale.

  • unusedusername

    co80121, thank you for pointing that out.  You are right, the study does take them into account. I can now breathe again.

    So now my problem is not with the paper, but with the Chronicle summary.  The paper states that, “while individuals with a general education are initially…7 percentage points less likely to be unemployed than those with a vocational education, the gap in employment rates narrows by 2 percentage points every ten years.”  In other words, the people with vocational unemployment are better off for the first 35 years of working life, and then become worse off.  It would not be until the 70th working year that the total benefits of a general education would exceed that of a vocational education, and almost nobody works for 70 years.

    Therefore, the study shows that people are better off in vocational education, which is the opposite of what the Chronicle implies.

  • rjw74

    Of course one’s feeling of vindication would require the idealized liberal arts education that barely exists in any but the few true sanctuaries of education in today’s world. Setting that aside, the thesis analysis may have some fault lines owing to the obvious need for continuous upgrade training, whether professional, vocational, or general, which if maintained would greatly enhance the employment opportunities otherwise subject to decline. My Father became an aircraft mechanic in 1939, trained at Embry Riddle Institute when it was still located in NY, working on DC 3s and the successor models of various aircraft over the next 33 years until he passed away. His final job assignment was as an Inspector on Boeing 747s. Perhaps our underlying, and seemingly subconscious, biases toward the blue collar stereotype of limited capabilities and view of the world beyond the scope of a “vocation” leads us to these gross simplifications. They are, however, couched in a context that suggests concern for the well-being of the “great unwashed masses”, fondly described by the late Senator Harris of Oklahoma, while dismissing their value and contributions to our daily existence and both their potential and inclination for continuous growth, that most sacred precept of education. As higher order thinking skills become evermore susceptible to the data mining and decoding of sophisticated software algorithms, we may find our plumbers more secure in their jobs than the rest of us.

  • dank48

    As opposed to unemployment early in life?

  • unusedusername

    OK, the edit function doesn’t seem to work.  The sentence should read:

    “while individuals with a general education are initially…7 percentage points less likely to be EMPLOYED than those with a vocational education, the gap in employment rates narrows by 2 percentage points every ten years.”

  • dank48

    Yeah, try sending plumbing, electrical, construction jobs off shore.

    Information is easily sent around the world. Leaking pipes aren’t.

  • http://twitter.com/cheflincoln cheflincoln

    I don’t think it is surprising that specialization would tend to lead to obsolescence in _any_ field but for me that means vocational education (apprenticeships in particular) should put more of an emphasis on critical thinking, communication skills and adaptability.  Chefs should have a sense of history, be able to write effectively and be adaptable/sensible enough to change career focus when appropriate rather than shoving them all into Bowdoin College.

  • cshaw4224

    There are a few important points for readers to note about this study relevant to the United States. First, the researchers note that “In the U.S. and other countries without a noteworthy vocational educational system, the employment probability of individuals with different types of education does not vary at all”. The second point, as mentioned previously, is the change in technology and technical instruction that has occurred over the past decade. This study uses data collected in the ninety’s. Those who were over 50 at the time would of been trained in the forty’s. New technology has not only entered the workplace but also the training programs. In America, our vocational programs fully integrate academics as well as strategies to continue learning throughout ones career. These critical thinking skills and problem solving skills are core to our vocational and career and education programs. Finally, the point made by previous posts stating that vocational graduates are 7% more likely to be employed early in their career with a diminishing impact of 2% points every decade suggests that early vocational education is a wonderful way to enter into the job market regardless. The key point is to continue lifelong learning through strong partnerships with industry and education.

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