Overview
Since 2012, the DAB panel study has been collecting longitudinal data on the occupational and educational situation of young people in German-speaking Switzerland. The individuals in the sample have been followed since their eighth year of school and have so far been asked ten times regarding their current educational situation as well as their educational and career aspirations. From a life course perspective, the DAB study contributes theory-based empirical evidence to address relevant questions in the fields of education, labour market and occupational research that could not previously be examined with the longitudinal data available in Switzerland.
The DAB study asks which factors influence the choice of educational programmes at the transition from lower secondary to upper secondary and potentially tertiary level. The choice of vocational or school-based education at the end of compulsory schooling is determined on the one hand by the characteristics of the training/labour market and its selection mechanisms, and on the other hand by individual vocational and educational choices.
In the first phase of the DAB panel study, the interplay of various factors that contribute to vocational and educational decisions (DAB-I) was examined. Individual characteristics of social origin, different competences and school performance, individual interests and preferences as well as ascriptive characteristics such as gender or migration background, previous educational decisions and regional opportunity structures are taken into account. The continuation of the DAB panel study (DAB-II/III/IV/V) examines the progression into vocational training or further general education after the transition to upper secondary level. Of particular interest are post-compulsory education and successful completion of upper secondary education, continuing education and training at tertiary level and the transition into employment and the labour market. Furthermore, the data from the follow-up surveys (DAB-II/III/IV/V) also allow analyses of changes and stability in educational plans and career aspirations as well as their realisation.
The data collected within the framework of the DAB panel study allow not only a description of the course of post-compulsory education and entry into employment, but also analyses of previously unresolved questions regarding the structure and contingency of school and vocational training pathways as well as regarding educational returns and decision-making behaviour.
