This paper analyses the effects of new public management governance on academics' job choices. Based on a choice experiment carried out with faculty from a sample of Germany's leading technical universities, we find that working environments characterized by varying levels of administrative burdens and high expectations concerning third-party…

In the past, students' participation in science competitions has been positively associated with their aspirations to pursue a career in science. Previous studies, however, were predominantly focused around successful competitors, overlooking the largest group of participants: those who are faced with early elimination. We therefore aimed to…

In this article, we analyse the processes that contribute to changes in career aspirations among German PhD graduates. Drawing on the concept of cooling out (Goffman 1952; Clark 1960) - which describes semi-intentional practices that can cause a gradual decline in educational or career aspirations -- the paper expands on this by distinguishing…

This study examines the influence of social contexts on the decision to either complete or leave the first vocational education and training (VET) position among young German apprentices--an aspect that has received little attention in dropout research. In particular, the role of three reference groups--parents, friends and classmates at…

Background: Despite a well-documented underrepresentation of women in STEM majors and occupations, empirical evidence on whether there really is a "leaky STEM pipeline" is mixed due to a lack of methodological consistency. Studies vary by (1) the definition of STEM, (2) the decision to measure choices alone or to also include…

This study investigates occupational changes in the German vocational education and training system among "stopouts," i.e., individuals who terminate their training prematurely and switch to another occupation. We examine whether occupational changes are related to the fulfillment of career aspirations and changes in key occupational…

This study examines whether premature termination of vocational education and training (VET) is more likely when trainees have to make compromises between their realistic occupational aspirations and the occupation for which they are trained in terms of the occupational dimensions of gender type, prestige, and occupational interests. Specifically,…

Previous research suggests that girls have higher occupational aspirations than boys before entering the labor market. We investigate whether this gender gap in occupational aspirations generalizes to secondary school students in Germany and illuminate the possible mechanisms behind these purported gender differences. For this purpose, we used a…

This paper makes two contributions to the literature on social stratification in vocational attainment. First, we evaluate whether labour market literacy, as measured by knowledge about earnings in different occupations, is socially stratified. Second, we analyse whether differences in expected earnings between high-income and low-income…

Science competitions target students interested in science with the aim to support them in developing science competence and career aspirations. Contrary to the common belief that science competition participants are exceptionally competent and strongly motivated to pursue a science career, there is growing evidence that the entirety of…

Unstructured out-of-school time (OST) science activities, such as reading a science book, watching a science television show, or researching on the internet about science, constitute a self-sustaining way for adolescents to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Although it is suggested that long-term engagement in…

Career change of young talent aggravates human resource shortages in various industries and the analysis of vocational commitment during the educational phase becomes paramount. Knowledge transfer modes and dynamics in the education of young professionals can influence their vocation or "calling" in the sector they are specialising for.…

In the last decades, secondary school students have indicated a low interest in science and a lack of awareness of authentic science careers that may impede their aspiration to work in science-related fields in future. To raise students' aspirations, several studies used context-based approaches, but few integrated career aspects into the school…

Educational science has consistently examined what drives adolescents to aspire to occupations in math-related fields -- and which factors, such as gender stereotypes, may drive them away. In this study, we utilized a large longitudinal data set (N = 1,092) to test whether past grades, gender, and the math level of mothers' and fathers'…

This article aims to address the research question of which educational strategies are employed by upper milieus to establish or maintain the 'structure of distances' in the field of higher education in late modernity. Inspired by Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction and conflict, the study examined 95 qualitative interviews conducted with…