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Journal of Vocational Education & Training
ISSN: 1363-6820 (Print) 1747-5090 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjve20
Learners’ perceptions of a career guidance
curriculum in different school-based support
systems in Switzerland
Chantal Kamm, Anja Gebhardt, Philipp Gonon, Christian Brühwiler &
Stefanie Dernbach-Stolz
To cite this article: Chantal Kamm, Anja Gebhardt, Philipp Gonon, Christian Brühwiler & Stefanie
Dernbach-Stolz (2019): Learners’ perceptions of a career guidance curriculum in different school-
based support systems in Switzerland, Journal of Vocational Education & Training
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2019.1610474
Published online: 26 Apr 2019.
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ARTICLE
Learners’perceptions of a career guidance curriculum in
different school-based support systems in Switzerland
Chantal Kamm
a
, Anja Gebhardt
b
, Philipp Gonon
a
, Christian Brühwiler
b
and Stefanie Dernbach-Stolz
a
a
Institute of Education, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;
b
Institute of Research on Teaching
Profession and on Development of Competencies, University of Teacher Education, St. Gallen,
Switzerland
ABSTRACT
This article examines the different functions and further poten-
tial of a curriculum of career guidance in lower secondary
school and bridge-year courses. With a focus on young adults
following a nonlinear pathway to post-compulsory education
in the Swiss Canton of Zurich, we answer the questions why
bridge-year courses are attended (RQ1) and how career gui-
dance is perceived (RQ2). Furthermore, optimisation segments
for a curriculum of career guidance were analysed from
a learner-centred perspective (RQ3). Taking a mixed-method
approach, we combine data from a quantitative questionnaire
and qualitative problem-centred interviews. To examine differ-
ences in attendance of bridge-year courses and the perceived
usefulness of supporting actors, quantitative data were ana-
lysed by mean ranges. The in-depth qualitative data were
analysed using a structured content analysis. The findings
underline the importance of an individualised approach to
career guidance in both lower secondary school and on
bridge-year courses. There is further potential for
a curriculum of career guidance in lower secondary school to
strengthen the orientation function, taking into account the
potential of social structural reproduction. Bridge-year courses
should rethink their compensation function given the diversity
of their attendees.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 25 September 2018
Accepted 31 March 2019
KEYWORDS
Vocational orientation;
career guidance;
school-based support
systems; lower secondary
school; bridge-year courses
Introduction
Transitions from school to work can no longer be considered linear and
homogenous processes, but as de-standardised and extended (Walther 2006,
121–124). For employment-centred transition systems, the first transition from
lower secondary school to post-compulsory education or vocational education
and training (VET)
1
in particular is an important turning point in a person’s
educational and vocational career (Stolz and Gonon 2013). This importance is
due to the early tracking school system and the highly determining system of
CONTACT Chantal Kamm chantal.kamm@ife.uzh.ch
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING
https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2019.1610474
© 2019 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd
following routes in Switzerland (Hupka-Brunner et al. 2011). But not all young
adults in Switzerland find a direct entry into post-compulsory education or
training. Longitudinal studies such as TREE (transitions from education to
employment) or statistical data from the Federal Statistical Office show that
about 15–20% of young adults choose to take a transitional option
2
after
compulsory school (Meyer 2014; BFS 2016). The attendance rate varies
between Swiss cantons, from 4 up to 46% (Landert and Eberli 2015, 55).
Transitional options can be seen as a structural response for young people
following a nonlinear pathway to post-compulsory education or training.
Transitional options have been one of the most rapidly growing educational
markets in the Swiss educational system since the 1990s (Wettstein, Schmid,
and Gonon 2017, 193). Bridge-year courses, as one of these transitional
options, are of growing importance not only in terms of the enrolment rate.
They are more and more regularly on offer to a particular group of young
adults (Landert and Eberli 2015). Extended post-compulsory transitions and the
growing importance of transitional options can similarly be observed in other
employment-centred countries, such as Germany (see Lex and Geier 2010).
Since the early 2000s, critical voices have been reflecting on the use and
efficacy of transitional options. Transitional options have a reputation as
‘gathering points’–a colloquial expression –for groups at risk of not finding
a linear route into post-compulsory education or training (Sacchi and Meyer
2016; Lex and Geier 2010). For Switzerland, Stolz (2013) discusses the proble-
matic shift towards a supply-induced demand for transitional options.
According to Künzli and Scherrer (2013), transitional options serve to conceal
structural problems caused by early selection and allow the reasons for failure
to be seen as individual rather than structural. This may be considered even
more relevant, because in Switzerland as well as in Germany the proportion of
participants varies significantly, depending on the previous level of ability
3
at
lower secondary school. Those coming from school tracks with lower require-
ments were regularly over-represented in bridge-year courses in Switzerland
and Germany (BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik) 2016; Beicht 2009). Furthermore,
the probability of participation can be explained by personal factors (e.g. social
status, gender or migration) and contextual factors (e.g. differences between
cantons and language regions) (Sacchi and Meyer 2016). The growing impor-
tance of transitional options and critical reflection on the questions ‘Who are
they for?’and ‘What are they for?’highlight the relevance of taking a closer
look at their curricula.
A second focus will be on support provided by lower secondary schools and
related actors such as teachers, since vocational orientation is a binding duty for
lower secondary schools and therefore part of the curriculum (Dreer 2013, 47).
Existing studies mainly focus on the structures, functions and aims of bridge-
year courses and lower secondary schools. This study focuses on vocational
orientation as a process. As an institutional provider of vocational orientation,
2C. KAMM ET AL.
career guidance is of great importance. It is therefore our aim to determine the
learner-centred perception of its utility in various institutional support systems
(e.g. lower secondary school and bridge-year courses). Since previous research
indicates differences in participation in bridge-year courses, we will also illuminate
the reasons for attending bridge-year courses. In more detail, we address the
following research questions.
(1) What are the reasons for attending a bridge-year course after compul-
sory school?
(2) How do young adults perceive career guidance at lower secondary
school and in bridge-year courses?
This can provide more information about why a significant group of young
adults do not choose to follow linear pathways into VET or another form of
post-compulsory education. Because of its special importance for young adults
at risk of not finding a smooth path from school to work in Switzerland, it
seems important to give them a voice in the further development of
a curriculum of career guidance. Therefore, the third research question focuses
on this aim.
(3) What do participants of bridge-year courses suggest as areas of optimisation
for a curriculum of career guidance at lower secondary school and bridge-
year courses?
All of the research questions will be analysed making use of data from the
mixed-method project called successful transitions into VET for different
groups at risk. These results can be discussed in the light of recent and
ongoing curricular modifications to career guidance at Swiss lower secondary
schools as well as in bridge-year courses.
In the following section, we start with a description of the Swiss education
system at secondary level, followed by specification of the theoretical frame-
work. In the second section, ‘Methods’, we describe the research design and
research methods applied. The key findings for answering the research ques-
tions are then presented, and discussed against the theoretical framework in
the concluding section.
Contextual and theoretical background
The Swiss education system at secondary level
After 11 years of compulsory education, less than 30% of young adults in
Switzerland choose a general education route, while the majority follow VET.
These differences are already anticipated by early selection after eight school
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 3
years, which divides pupils at lower secondary school into two or three tracks
(the academically most demanding track, the intermediate track and the
academically least demanding track). Figure 1 shows the Swiss education
system at secondary level.
While most young adults find a linear route into upper secondary education,
a significant minority of around 25% do not find direct access to the post-
compulsory education and training system (BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik) 2016;
Meyer 2018); around 20% of these take a transitional option. Extended transi-
tions are made by about 27% of those coming from a lower secondary school
less demanding track, while this proportion is about 6% for those from the
academically most demanding track (BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik) 2016).
Following the transitional option, the vast majority of young adults transfer
to initial VET after one or two years.
The role of career guidance in a young adult’sown vocational orientation
process
Vocational orientation is, on the one hand, an active and constructive
process of young people’s learning experiences and perceptions (Müller
2009,37–38). As we perceive vocational orientation as being at least partly
individual-driven, this theoretical perspective is in line with Evans’s(2002)
reflections on the concept of bounded agency. Agency stresses the indivi-
dual, proactive decision-making process of young adults in the context of
their vocational orientation (Rudd and Evans 1998). This understanding
strengthens the degree of decision-making, which is, according to the
authors, often underestimated in theoretical reflections on transitional pro-
cesses. According to Evans (2002), structure and agency can be understood
as being interrelated. Three dimensions of boundaries were mentioned: the
social dimension, internal/external control processes and the degree of
social reproduction/transformation (ibid.). For the first boundary of agency,
Figure 1. The transition from compulsory education to upper secondary level. Excerpt from
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), 2017.
4C. KAMM ET AL.
Evans (2002) refers to Beck’s(1992) individualised society thesis, involving
the diffusion and disappearance of social classes. This leads to more choices
and also to new uncertainties and risks in individual careers. The second
boundary refers to the social structures, institutions and cultural norms,
which individuals are embedded in (Evans 2002). The third boundary refers
to the degree of social mobility, which influences the situationally deter-
mined rationality of action (ibid.). In contrast to the position of rational
choice, social, cultural and procedural contextual conditions lead the actor
to make decisions that are subjectively, but not objectively, rational (Evans
2002). Bringing these aspects together, Evans (2002) summarises: ‘[...] we
have looked through the lens of agency as a socially situated process,
shaped by the experiences of the past, the chances present in the current
moment and the perceptions of possible futures, to find the concept of
bounded agency’. Taking into account these theoretical reflections, the indi-
vidual is understood to play a part in his orientation process, even if this is
limited to an individually differing scope of action.
On the other hand, for decades theoretical and empirical evidence has
shown the importance of social embedding to this active construction process
of vocational orientation (e.g. Granovetter 1974; Putnam 2001). Decision-
making, as part of a process of vocational orientation, can therefore be
perceived to be influenced by personal social resources as well as by social
and economic conditions (Hirschi 2007). Social resources with regard to voca-
tional orientation can be grouped into personal (e.g. parental network or
informal support), school-based (e.g. career guidance lessons), institutional
(e.g. career guidance) and information sources (e.g. internet) (Hirschi 2007).
Within this range, the focus of the article will be on school-based as well as
institutional career guidance.
The following section will also consider, as a part of this institutional sup-
port, the different functions of a curriculum of career guidance at lower
secondary school and in bridge-year courses.
Career guidance at lower secondary school and in bridge-year courses
In a federal country such as Switzerland, career guidance appears in different
forms and involves a range of actors. Understanding young adults as decision-
makers requires a constructivist view of career guidance as career competence
development (Kuijpers, Meijers, and Gundy 2011; Savickas 2005). To enhance
the competence of active decision-making, according to Kuijpers, Meijers, and
Gundy (2011), the learning environment needs: opportunities for real-life work
experience, dialogue-based participation by the teacher and the student, the
creation of more choices and ongoing guidance. The focus of this article will
be on analysis of career guidance as a subject at lower secondary school and
on how it takes place during a bridge-year course.
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 5
On a structural level alone, differences in the status of career guidance between
lower secondary school and bridge-year courses are apparent. While at lower
secondary school career guidance can be seen as a minor subject with little
attentionto the individual, career guidance in bridge-year courses isthe main aim.
In the following sections, the different roles of career guidance for lower
secondary school and bridge-year courses in Switzerland will be discussed.
Lower secondary school
The role of schools can theoretically be understood as providing different ways
for society to reproduce itself: qualification, selection and integration (see Fend
1981,2012). While the first way refers to the reproduction of cultural values
within society through the transfer of skills and knowledge, the second can be
seen as reproduction of the social structure through the distribution of posi-
tions (Fend 2012, 163). Fend’s(2012) theoretical approach allows a critical view
of the role of schools; for example, the aim of a curriculum of career guidance
can be understood not only as a tool of individualised support, but also as
a mandate to transfer values and maintain the structure of society. From this
point of view, teachers address individuals as members of social groups. Career
guidance is part of the curricula of lower secondary schools, which structures
in advance the opportunities and counselling for post-compulsory educational
and vocational options (e.g. Neuenschwander 2014).
Whether career guidance in lower secondary school serves to reproduce
cultural values and consolidate the social structure will be empirically examined.
Bridge-year courses
While career guidance at lower secondary school already focuses more on VET
and less on general education, this orientation is even stronger for career
guidance in bridge-year courses. As an interim solution to the transition
between compulsory education and mostly VET at upper secondary level,
bridge-year courses in Switzerland have different functions, while their core
is perceived as follows (Meyer 2003; Sacchi and Meyer 2016):
(1) Compensation: Addressing individual deficits of previous lower second-
ary education. These deficits may concern education, language or beha-
viour, but also tasks with regard to job applications (e.g. writing an
application letter and presentation skills). The focus is on the develop-
ment of individual skills that are supposed to be relevant for VET.
(2) Orientation/career choice: A second focus of bridge-year courses is the
individual-centred focus on career possibilities. Learners are supported in
their decision-making, and helped towards choosing direct post-
compulsory school routes. Again, the focus is on VET. This function can
be seen as part of the broader aim of promoting maturity regarding work.
6C. KAMM ET AL.
(3) Systemic buffer: Even though supply (job applications) exceeds
demand on the Swiss apprenticeship market, the imbalance between
interests on the demand side and requirements not being met makes
a linear entry into post-compulsory education and training even more
complicated (for the Canton of Zurich, see Bildungsdirektion Kanton
Zürich 2018). Addressing the mismatch between skills profile and
apprenticeship offercanbeseenasthethirdfunctionofbridge-year
courses. This function was also the reason that (public) transitional
options came into being, due to exceptionally high youth unemploy-
ment in Switzerland in the early 1990s and the period 2002–2004
(Landert and Eberli 2015).
In contrast to lower secondary school, vocational orientation and traditional
school subjects are of equal importance in the bridge-year course curriculum.
This curricular shift from traditional subjects towards vocational orientation is
even more important, taking into account research findings indicating that the
orientation function plays a much more important role than the compensation
function (see Sacchi and Meyer 2016). A possible reason is that these institutions
are geared to bridging the gap between compulsory schooling and the world of
work, which increases pressure on the orientation function (see Meyer 2014).
Methods
Research design
To answer the research questions, this article uses data collected within
abroader mixed-method research project on successful transitions into VET
for different groups at risk (see Introduction). A quantitative questionnaire for
young adults (n= 310) was carried out in 2016. These young adults partici-
pated in various bridge-year courses in the Canton of Zurich during the school
years 2010/2011 (30.3%), 2011/2012 (26.8%), 2012/2013 (42.3%), 2013/2014
(0.3%) and 2014/2015 (0.3%). For this sample, an average age of 20.77 years
was calculated (SD = 1.13). In terms of gender distribution, the subsample had
31.8% males and 68.2% females. With regard to the lower secondary school
track, 53.1% attended the intermediate track, 44.6% attended the lowest track
and 2.3% attended the academically most demanding track.
The questionnaire focused on, among other things, risk factors, success
indicators and the perceived relevance, use and usefulness of different support
systems. The reasons for attendance, perceived effect and positive and nega-
tive aspects of attending bridge-year courses were investigated, with a special
focus on bridge-year courses.
Based on an identification of distinct risk and success patterns based on latent
class analysis (Gebhardt et al. 2017), the qualitative sampling structure followed as
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 7
an in-depth case study. Therefore, sampling for qualitative data can be described
as an intensity sampling process (Patton 1990) focusing on representatives of
interesting risk and success patterns. These qualitative interviews (n= 12) were
carried out in 2017, applying a semi-structured method. Interviews started with an
open question concerning the description and experience of the participant’s
own vocational choices and vocational orientation process. After a second open
question on different support systems, a semi-structured part focused on recom-
mendations for optimisation of the systems.
Measures and analyses
This article aims to present an individual-centred view with regard to the perception
of career guidance and its curricular development. We start with a learner-centred
view of the functions of bridge-year courses, analysing the quantitative question
‘Why attend a bridge-year course?’. We ranged potential reasons by their means (M)
on a Likert scale from 1 (I totally disagree) to 4 (I totally agree). This descriptive
analysis was followed by an analysis of variance to detect differences between the
distinct patterns of risk and success. For thequantitativepart,theperceiveduseful-
ness of support offers was also considered. Possible support offers were evaluated
on a Likert scale from 1 (not useful at all) to 4 (very useful). This scale will be taken
into account to see the importance of different actors and support offers for young
adults in vocational orientation, with a focus on actors from lower secondary school
and bridge-year courses. We will look at the importance of support offers, by
ranking them according to their means (M) of perceived importance.
Based on the patterns of risk and success (latent class analysis), 12 interviews
were conducted with five groups showing interesting patterns of risk and success.
The data were fully transcribed according to the transcription rules of Dresing and
Pehl (2011) and analysed with the data analysis software MAXQDA, following the
systematic steps of a structured qualitative content analysis (see Mayring 2015;
Krippendorff2013). While the deductive main categories (vocational orientation
process, support, bridge-year courses, optimising segments and future plans)
were formulated as a rough structure, inductive subcategory development was
summarised from the material. This combination allows a circular and open
analysis. The reliability of coding was considered through subjective assessment
(Guest, MacQueen, and Namey 2012).
Results
Reasons for the attendance of bridge-year courses
To answer the first question (RQ1), we look briefly at the reasons for attending
a transitional option after lower secondary school. This provides a first indication
of the objectives of bridge-year courses according to attendance. Furthermore,
8C. KAMM ET AL.
we are provided with some indications of how this additional year takes place in
a young adult’s vocational orientation process (RQ2). The following Figure 2
shows a ranking of the average relevance (mean) for the reasons to attend
a transitional option.
As seen in Figure 2, the most common reasons given were not being able to
find an apprenticeship (M= 3.07, SD = 1.13), needing more time for vocational
orientation (M= 2.95, SD = 1.13) or increasing one’s chances of finding a good
apprenticeship (M= 2.69, SD = 1.05). In fourth place and still with a relatively
high relevance, further personal development (M= 2.38, SD = 1.12) met with
fairly high approval as a reason for attendance. The average means for the
other reasons show relatively little approval. Therefore, from the point of view
of learners, the main functions seem to be the systemic buffer function
(reasons 1 and 3), on the one hand, and the orientation function (reasons 2
and 4) of bridge-year courses, on the other. Interestingly, reasons pointing to
a compensation function (such as filling educational gaps, gaining general or
special[professional] experience) are of less importance for attending
a transitional option according to the respondents. The average values of
these reasons were below the scale mean, which indicates low agreement.
To complete this picture of possible reasons for extending one’s transition,
data from the qualitative study show the three most mentioned individual
challenges in vocational orientation: (1) lack of vocational maturity, (2) lack of
vocational orientation and (3) lack of information. The first one points out the
3.07 2.95
2.69
2.38
1.94 1.88 1.78 1.65 1.54
1.27 1.22 1.14 1.10
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Figure 2. Reasons for attending a bridge-year course.
Notes: The ranges are based on means (M) which were arranged in descending order. The question was asked
in German and the response options were translated into English. Scale from 1 = I totally disagree to 4 = I
totally agree.
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 9
fact that most of the interview participants did not feel old or mature enough
to make such an important decision, as the following excerpt shows:
Bettina
4
: Yes, I found it really difficult there, because I wasn’t AT ALL ready to decide
what to do afterwards. And that’s why I finally came up with the bridge-year course,
so as to have another year to consider what I WANT and to get a little closer to
adulthood. And there it was much better actually.
In the above quotation, Bettina expresses a feeling of not being ready for an
important and long-during decision at the end of lower secondary school. As
the statement shows, the feeling of not being ready for a vocational decision is
the reason for Bettina to participate in a bridge-year course. Therefore, the
orientation function is of major importance in her choice.
The importance of the orientation function of bridge-year courses is also
highlighted by the second category, i.e. lack of vocational orientation. The lack
of information highlights the importance of career guidance at lower second-
ary school, as information on vocational options is perceived as being insuffi-
cient at lower secondary school.
Perception of career guidance in different support systems
Assuming that the vocational orientation process is individually controlled and
is a socially embedded process, this section concentrates on supporting actors
and offers. Because the article focuses on differences between career guidance
at lower secondary school and bridge-year courses, we pay special attention to
these two groups of actors. The following Figure 3 shows a ranking of the
average perceived usefulness (M)ofdifferent support offers. In the opinion of
the participants in bridge-year courses, the most useful support was provided
by parents and the internet.
Interestingly, given focus on institutional actors of school and bridge-year
courses that follows, their support is perceived very differently according to the
participants. While the perceived usefulness of the teachers of bridge-year courses
achieves a high mean score of 3.01 (or ‘fairly useful’), teachers at compulsory
school were on average judged as being ‘not very useful’(M= 2.07). Furthermore,
while the teachers of bridge-year courses ranked third, just below parents and the
internet, teachers at lower secondary school came almost last. The picture is
similar for other lower secondary school actors such as social workers, principals
or offers such as information events at school. The qualitative data give further
possible reasons for this relatively low ranking of teachers’support at lower
secondary school. The lack of support at lower secondary school was
summarised by three reasons: (1) bad relationships with teachers (2), teachers’
lack of knowledge of vocational options and (3) other curricular priorities.
As the first reason shows the importance of a good teacher-learner
relationship, which is not the focus of this article, the other two reasons
10 C. KAMM ET AL.
3.17 3.04 3.01
2.77 2.71 2.59 2.50 2.46 2.44 2.36 2.35 2.30 2.24 2.23 2.12 2.07 1.96
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
Figure 3. Perceived usefulness of several support offers.
Notes: The ranges are based on means (M) which were arranged in descending order. The question was asked in German and the response options were translated into English. Scale from
1 = not useful at all, until 4 = very useful.
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 11
should be looked at more closely. According to the interviewees, the tea-
chers’lack of knowledge of vocational options (2) is due to a lack of
personal experience of VET routes. This is described, for example, by Claire
in the following quotation:
Claire: But they couldn’t help us, because I think NO teacher, at least as far as I know,
has been in this situation. MOST of the teachers attended grammar school and
studied. And then they have to teach us, 13- or 14-year olds, HOW to look for an
apprenticeship when they themselves have NO idea because they don’t know what
job opportunities exist.
In the above quotation, Claire refers to the divided post-obligatory educational
routes in Switzerland. According to her, this does not only imply a formal separa-
tion, but also a lack of understanding and knowledge of other routes than the one
they chose themselves. So, as teachers usually follow the general education route
which leads them directly to university and teacher education, in the interviewee’s
opinion they have no (practical) knowledge of job opportunities to find a VET
place. Therefore, the lack of guidance is linked to a lack of practical knowledge on
the part of the teachers. Claire describes a misunderstanding between teachers,
who represent a general education route, and young people with an interest in
VET. The teachers’lack of knowledge of possible vocational pathways was high-
lighted by other interviewees as well.
The interviews identified the curricular priorities of lower secondary school-
ing as a further explanation for the lack of support, i.e. (3) the focus on topics
other than vocational guidance.
Adrian: The teacher in school has not much time, after all, because he has to follow
the curriculum. School is more important than finding an apprenticeship in the end.
At least in our case it was like this. You have a certain plan which you have to stick to
and mostly it is already rather under pressure.
In the above quotation, Adrian differentiates between school subject curricu-
lum and career guidance –but does not count the latter as a part of the school
curriculum. So, the interviewee sees a clear hierarchy of traditional subjects
and career guidance. According to Adrian, this hierarchy is at least partly due
to the teachers’limited scope of action. So, the main problem seems to be the
insufficient importance given to career guidance by the curricular structure.
As vocational orientation is seen as an individual process of great importance,
the need for more individualised support at school, as well as in bridge-year courses,
figured prominently in the interviews. This will be discussed in the following section,
with other learner-centred recommendations for optimisation of career guidance.
Learner-centred recommendations for optimisation
To give a response to RQ3, i.e. learner-centred recommendations for an optimisa-
tion of career guidance, the inductively created subcategories of qualitative
12 C. KAMM ET AL.
interviews provide a first overview (Table 1). The subcategories were structured on
the horizontal axis by the main function of bridge-year courses named by Meyer
(2003). On the vertical axis, the recommendations were separated by the two
institutional systems (lower secondary school and bridge-year courses). The three
most mentioned subcategories are printed in bold type.
According to the interviews, the most important objective from the learner’s
point of view should be a more individualised curriculum of career guidance.
The interviewees complained that the present support failed to take their
individual biographies and educational aspirations seriously for career gui-
dance purposes, and instead used standardised programmes and offers. All
the interviewees mentioned a need for more individualised support at lower
secondary school as a central optimisation segment, while four participants
also said the same about bridge-year courses. For some of the interviewees,
this was the most important topic in the interview. For example, Flutura
describes in the interview how she had been looking for someone to give
her a voice in her vocational orientation process. The interviewee puts this
directly in the following excerpt:
Flutura: And that you are really helped and not just the comprehensive package in
the classroom. What should be introduced: being really INDIVIDUALLY addressed as
a learner.
Flutura differentiates between the ‘comprehensive package’and
individualised support. The sentence can be understood as a criticism of cool-
ing out strategies by teachers at lower secondary school and bridge-year
courses, which was experienced by some interviewees. Being taken seriously
as a person with certain capabilities and career plans is what seems to be most
important for Flutura. A similar picture emerges when the statements by other
interviewees are taken into account, which describe the need for more
personalised support during their vocational orientation.
Further segments which were of high importance for the interviewees when
it came to lower secondary school were ‘VET representatives in school’and
‘more information’. Most mentioned for bridge-year courses were: ‘increasing
the level of difficulty’and a shift towards ‘workplace-related training’. As seen in
Table 1, apart from individualised support, the segments of optimisation differ
between lower secondary school and bridge-year courses. While information
Table 1. Learner-centred optimisation segments.
Main category: Optimisation Compulsory school Bridge-year courses
Compensation System/qualification of teachers
More time for vocational choice
To increase the level of difficulty
Workplace-related training
Application training
Orientation Individualised support
VET-representatives at school
Individualised support
To increase commitment
Systemic buffer More information
Better information for parents
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 13
seemed to be a more important task for optimisation at lower secondary school,
compensation was the focus when it came to optimising bridge-year courses.
The most mentioned issues apart from individualised support will be discussed
in the following section, based on sample quotations, starting with issues at
lower secondary school and followed by those in bridge-year courses.
VET representatives at lower secondary school
Letting representatives of VET talk in lower secondary schools about their
experiences was already a core optimising element in an open question in
the quantitative part of the study. As this was also a focus of the interviews, we
take a deeper look at how this can be understood in the following quotation:
Loran: So, people who I know to be already in vocational training, they KNOW a lot.
They know a lot more. They are in the midst of what they are learning, what they are
working. Had I had CONTACT with learners back then, I would have had a much
greater insight into professions than I ever had in school.
Loran regretted not having an insider’s view during his vocational orientation
process at lower secondary school, which would have allowed him to get an
idea of different professions. In the above quotation, a differentiation is made
between the practical knowledge of learners already being in VET and the
theoretical knowledge communicated at school. Practical knowledge is per-
ceived by Loran as being most important in his vocational orientation process.
While Loran speaks of peers in VET, other interviewees also mentioned profes-
sionals such as trainee counsellors. Therefore, close collaboration between
schools and providers of VET was important to learners.
More information at lower secondary school
More information was wanted for career guidance at lower secondary school. This
subcategory brought together a number of issues. Some participants wanted
more information about specific careers. Some quotations indicated a desire to
get a more realistic view of the challenging sides of career options. Others
demanded more information about the diversity of career options in the VET
market. The following quotation highlights two of these issues; Kavitha wishes she
had known more about the different options and had more insider information.
Kavitha: In my opinion one could show children a more diverse picture of professional
options. (. . .) I have a feeling; we all have been thrown in at the deep end: ‘now go for
it’. And then you either interrupt your apprenticeship or you go on with it. You have
to look after yourself. And I know A LOT of people who actually stopped their
apprenticeship because it wasn’t what they had expected. I for one didn’t dare
quit. I had a feeling I wouldn’tfind anything else.
Kavitha perceives vocational orientation as hardly being self-directed, as she lacked
the information to make her capable of decision-making. In the above quotation,
Kavitha pleads for more diversity of professional offers, which she relates to
14 C. KAMM ET AL.
a declining risk of dropping out of training. The feeling of being ‘thrown in at the
deep end’is also expressed by other participants and shows great uncertainty in
their own vocational orientation. For Kavitha, dropping out of an apprenticeship in
such a situation seems a fairly normal solution and not even the worst one because it
is the apprentice’s own decision. For the learners, having a broad enough knowl-
edge of the diversity of vocational opportunities to be able to decide is vital to a self-
directed vocational orientation process.
Increasing the level of difficulty in bridge-year courses
In comparison to lower secondary school, the young adults interviewed were mostly
satisfied with career guidance provided by the institutions running bridge-year
courses. Therefore, the following optimisation segments play a comparatively
small role.
An important issue –mentioned by even more interviewees than
individualised support –is disappointment at the low level of difficulty in bridge-
year courses. Many participants felt that they were not learning anything beyond
lower secondary school level. Erika describes this in the following quotation.
Erika: At the end, in the whole bridge-year course you just repeat what you have
already learned in lower secondary school. I learned few really NEW things. [. . .]
I wished we had learned MORE. In the end I must admit the level is really low.
In the above quotation, Erika describes the repetition and low level of tradi-
tional subjects such as languages or maths. She sees how the level of several
subjects seems not to go beyond that of her former lower secondary school.
5
This was confirmed by eight other participants and was also the subject of an
open question in the quantitative questionnaire.
More workplace-related training in bridge-year courses
Regarding the following optimisation segment, it should be noted that all the
interviewees afterwards started VET. Several interviewees consider a more
workplace-related curriculum, as a preparation for VET, a possible optimisation.
Loran: I would like to have it like this: students should each day be provided with an
insider view of the profession they want to learn. So, if one wants to be a computer
scientist, one learns PROGRAMMING [. . .].
Loran believes a bridge-year course curriculum should be organised as
a hands-on preparation for VET. This highlights, on the one hand, the wish
for a more individual-oriented curriculum. On the other hand, the quotation
shows that VET is seen as the connecting solution for bridge-year courses.
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 15
Discussion
Vocational orientation in this article is understood as an active constructive
process (agency) which at the same time is bounded by biographic and situational
chances (Evans 2002). Career guidance provided at school and by bridge-year
courses is seen as an important support system, accessible to all participants.
The main findings of the empirical reflections, based on quantitative and quali-
tative data of participants doing bridge-year courses, can be summarised as follows:
●Connecting to the theoretical model by Meyer (2003), the empirical data
attribute the greatest relevance to the orientation and systemic buffer
functions. Less important from the learner’s point of view seems to be the
compensation function, for which a low degree of approval is reported.
This finding is supported by qualitative data, where the main challenges
in a young adult’s vocational orientation were summarised as a lack of
vocational maturity, lack of orientation and lack of information.
●As the vocational orientation process is based on support by diverse
actors and offers, we have taken a closer look at institutional actors at
lower secondary school and on bridge-year courses. Qualitative and
quantitative data indicate differences in the perception of this support,
as actors at lower secondary school were perceived as being less effective
in vocational orientation than those involved in bridge-year courses.
According to the qualitative data, as reasons for this we identify
a mismatch of the knowledge of teachers, who represent participants in
general education pathways compared to young people with an interest
in VET pathways.
To answer the research question on how young adults perceive career
guidance at lower secondary school and in bridge-year courses, we identify
the orientation function as being even more important for young adults with
comparatively few social resources. And even though differences between
career guidance at lower secondary school and in bridge-year courses have
been analysed, for both institutions more individualised support is a major
issue for learners. This desire for more individualised support can be inter-
preted in the light of bounded agency theory (Evans 2002) in such a way that
participation in decision-making requires an informed individual. In the eyes of
the interviewees, career opportunities differ according to life experience and
situation. At the same time, under the conditions of individual support, deci-
sions are certainly experienced as self-directed. Career guidance can be seen as
an important future investment for young people to become actors in their
vocational orientation.
As discussed above, career guidance in lower secondary school should reflect
the social integration and selective function (Fend 2012). Career guidance is then
16 C. KAMM ET AL.
seen as a tool to support individual vocational orientation, but also to reproduce
the social structures of society. Against the background the findings show that
young adults who attended a transitional option perceived teachers at lower
secondary school as being of little help. Furthermore, according to the qualitative
data, a lack of understanding of the situation and of empathy by the teachers is
claimed, which learners explain by different educational choices of teachers and
learners. So, according to participants in bridge-year courses, there is a clash
between advisers who followed a general education route and those who took
a VET route. As teachers are usually representatives of the former group, their
counselling for career options in VET was perceived as limited. This lack of work
experience outside education as a problem for an individual-centred career
guidance has already been highlighted in further comparative studies in Europe
(see Canning, Berger, and Pilz 2012). Based on these findings, teacher education
and cooperation with training companies could be reconsidered for lower sec-
ondary school.
For career guidance in bridge-year courses, the importance of the orientation
function (Meyer 2003) was highlighted by the qualitative and quantitative data.
While the data indicate the already high quality of career guidance in bridge-year
courses, the interviews still show a need for more individualised support.
Further optimisation segments for bridge-year courses relate to the com-
pensation function. This is in line with the analysis by Sacchi and Meyer (2016),
who pointed out the low importance of the compensation function in the daily
curriculum, which contrasts with the high importance attributed to it in
political discourse. The qualitative data allow a closer look at this issue. In
the opinion of the participants, further progress could be made by enhancing
the level of difficulty of general subjects. The interviewees thought general
subjects in bridge-year courses were at a low level. A challenging level of
learning is suggested by international research, which points out how impor-
tant it is to provide sufficient learning opportunities (e.g. Lee 2010), and
motivational theory (Deci and Ryan 2008), which points out the importance
of feeling competent.
Participants also speak out in favour of a more workplace-oriented training.
For most of the participants in bridge-year courses, vocational orientation will
lead them into VET, and the interviewees see the chance to prepare for this by
having more profession-related subjects. At the same time, a workplace-
oriented curriculum means vocational orientation is limited and structured in
advance, excluding general education routes, and therefore narrows the scope
of follow-up solutions.
Limitations
The interpretation range of the findings is limited by the focus on young
people who attended a bridge-year course. This is a selection of learners
JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING 17
who were particularly at risk in their vocational orientation. It is therefore
possible that other learners perceive career guidance by teachers at lower
secondary school differently. This limitation was deliberately accepted, as the
aim was to give vulnerable groups a voice, groups which are rarely repre-
sented in reform processes. On the other hand, at 13% the response rate of the
three cohorts was rather low. This may be because the contact information
was out of date. Therefore, the rate could not have been increased, not even
by an expensive follow-up.
As is often the case with qualitative data, we cannot generalise about the
results statistically, only theoretically. The interpretation should therefore be
read as context-specific.
Conclusion
As vocational orientation is perceived as an active, constructive and ongoing
process (Evans 2002; Müller 2009), learners should be given a voice when
a curriculum of career guidance is being considered. In this article, we have given
a learner-centred view of how young people with a nonlinear pathway after
compulsory school perceived support in their vocational orientation by actors of
lower secondary school and bridge-year courses. Based on a theoretical reflection
on the functions of compulsory school (Fend 2012) and bridge-year courses (Meyer
2003), optimisation segments were discussed by learners.
On the whole, a curriculum of career guidance for lower secondary school should
be more individualised, starting with an exploring phase to reduce the risk of routes
being preselected by addressing students as members of their respective social
classes. As we can assume from the data, special attention should be given to
teacher education and further education. The aim should be to extend their knowl-
edge of possible vocational pathways and make teachers more aware of other
career paths besides their own.
For bridge-year courses, the data indicate the importance of fostering an already
individualised process without neglecting the compensatory function of the curri-
cula. So, while career guidance should be the focus of attention at lower secondary
school level, it should also be an important, but not the only, objective of bridge-year
courses. Bearing in mind the coming reform of the curriculum of career guidance,
further research should focus on how these needs can be met in the future.
Notes
1. In the following sections, we will use the abbreviation ‘VET’.
2. There are different types of transitional options. In Switzerland, they are funded both
publicly and privately. Their organisational structures can be school-based, work-
based (pre-apprenticeship or preparatory courses) or informal (e.g. language courses).
In this article, we focus on school-based bridge-year courses.
18 C. KAMM ET AL.
3. The Swiss educational system segregates at an early age. Lower secondary school is
divided into performance-based groups with two or three levels (depending on the
respective cantonal educational system).
4. Nameswerereplacedusingsamegenderandsameculturalorigin.Interviews
were conducted in Swiss German with an idiomatic translation to English. Words
which were specially emphasised by the interviewees were written in CAPITAL
LETTERS.
5. It must not be forgotten that these levels differ among lower secondary schools in
Switzerland.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This research project was funded by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland and the
Bildungsdirektion Kanton Zürich.
ORCID
Chantal Kamm http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8568-5659
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