Abstract
The German labor market faces an increasing shortage of skilled workers in most handicrafts trade. At the same time, each year, traineeship positions remain vacant. To find potential reasons for this imperfect labor market situation, this paper explored and identified in form of a qualitative research approach various discrimination mechanisms for people with a migrant background in access to Vocational Education Training (VET). The main findings are the importance of a social network for a successful application as well as societal and employers’ biases during the application process that can disadvantage minority groups. The results of the research are relevant in two ways. First, they highlight the difficulties in the application process due to intersectionality and hint at structural inequality in Germany that minority groups face because of their social origin. Secondly, results provide innovative policy recommendations for ensuring substantive Equality of Opportunity in access to VET.
Evidence for practice
Keywords: Vocational Education Training (VET), labor market, discrimination, equality of opportunity, application process, migrant background
Citation: Trabitzsch, E. (2023). Unequal Access to Vocational Education Training in Germany. Exploring experiences of people with a migrant background. Public Note, 10(2), 26-31.
The German labor market faces an increasing shortage of skilled workers in most handicrafts trade. At the same time, each year, traineeship positions remain vacant. To find potential reasons for this imperfect labor market situation, this paper explored and identified in form of a qualitative research approach various discrimination mechanisms for people with a migrant background in access to Vocational Education Training (VET). The main findings are the importance of a social network for a successful application as well as societal and employers’ biases during the application process that can disadvantage minority groups. The results of the research are relevant in two ways. First, they highlight the difficulties in the application process due to intersectionality and hint at structural inequality in Germany that minority groups face because of their social origin. Secondly, results provide innovative policy recommendations for ensuring substantive Equality of Opportunity in access to VET.
Evidence for practice
- Findings suggest a discriminatory treatment for people with a migrant background in the application process for Vocational Education Training (VET)
- To reduce discrimination, companies should establish a transparent hiring process
- Moreover, people with a migrant background should get sufficient support in the form of social workers and free tutoring to increase their social capital
Keywords: Vocational Education Training (VET), labor market, discrimination, equality of opportunity, application process, migrant background
Citation: Trabitzsch, E. (2023). Unequal Access to Vocational Education Training in Germany. Exploring experiences of people with a migrant background. Public Note, 10(2), 26-31.
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