Maturity for an apprenticeship - a bone of contention for experts too

Bettina Ehrenthal, Verena Eberhard, Joachim Gerd Ulrich

"Lack of maturity for an apprenticeship" is an accusation which is levelled more and more frequently at young people nowadays. Opinions are, however, divided on the matter. Some consider the lack of readiness to be the main reason for the current desperate situation on the training market, whereas others view the argument as a smoke and mirrors trick, diverting attention from the present shortage of training places.

There are also voices making themselves heard which are reminiscent of the generational conflict which has been going on since ancient times. Is it not true that romanticising how things were in their own childhood have always led to the "older" generation bemoaning the decline in moral standards and virtues amongst young people? The fact is that as early as the sixties trade and industry in Germany were complaining that at least a quarter of apprentices were unable to calculate or write properly, this being put down to a lack of maturity for an apprenticeship. Others in turn point out the rapid increase in requirements which has occurred in recent years on the labour market. This could well mean that someone who today is no longer considered to be "ready for training" may have been perfectly capable of completing an apprenticeship in a previous era. Leaving these various assessments aside for the moment, this remains an extremely important issue since, as has been demonstrated by a BIBB company survey, companies believe an improvement in maturity for an apprenticeship is a central measure for creating new training places.

Implementation of an expert survey

To shed some light on the discussion, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) conducted a survey of 482 experts from various branches of vocational education and training within the scope of its Expert Monitor Survey (cf. Figure 1).

Institutional origin of the 482 experts

The experts are from companies, vocational schools, inter-company training centres, the chambers, associations from within trade and industry, trade unions, state training administrative bodies, universities and research institutes.
Care was also taken to include equal representation of research and practice.

The survey took place from September to the start of October 2005 and produced quite surprising results.

What actually constitutes maturity for an apprenticeship?

One of the reasons for the "maturity for an apprenticeship" dispute is the vastly differing public interpretations of what it actually means.

Press quotations on "maturity for an apprenticeship"

 

• "Around a quarter of all pupils leaving the general education system today with a lack of maturity for an apprenticeship"
  (Deutsche Handwerkszeitung of 25 Feb 2005)
• "50 percent of pupils are not capable of training" (Tagesspiegel of 24 Mar 2005)
  "Companies complain about quality of pupils"
  (Bild Zeitung of 10 May 2005)
• "Too few suitable applicants"
  (General Anzeiger of 16 June 2005)
• "Apprenticeships for the illiterate?"
  (Die Welt Online of 21 Apr 2004)
• "A generation incapable of anything"
  (Die Welt Online of 21 Apr 2004)
• "Employers think young people are too stupid"
  (TAZ-Online of 16 Feb 2005)
• "Every second pupil not up to an apprenticeship" (Berliner Zeitung of 9 Aug2005)
• "Lower secondary school pupils can often hardly read or write" (Die Welt of 20 Jan 2005)

Experts, however, increasingly agree that "maturity for an apprenticeship" constitutes only such capabilities and the work ethic which are important for training in all occupations - regardless of whether the specific training is particularly demanding or less demanding. If certain capabilities are only important for certain occupations and play no particular part in other occupations, then these must be considered as forming part of an occupation specific aptitude. It is, therefore, perfectly possible that someone is ready for training, but not suited to a particular occupation. There is agreement to the extent that "maturity for an apprenticeship" can only include the aspects which must be present when an apprenticeship is embarked upon. Capabilities and skills which are intended to be acquired during the course of the apprenticeship itself cannot be counted.

So much for the "formal" definition. However, what are the concrete capabilities, skills and the work ethic with which young people need to be equipped in order to be able to complete training of any kind? Nearly all the experts (more than four fifths) include the following: reliability, willingness to learn, motivation, a sense of responsibility, the ability to concentrate, stamina, basic arithmetic operations, the ability to do simple mental arithmetic, carefulness, consideration for others, politeness, tolerance, a capacity for self-criticism, an ability to manage conflict, adaptability and, finally, the willingness to accept their role within the company's hierarchy (cf. Figure 2).

What the experts predominantly have in mind are general the work ethic, the virtue of effort and social virtues. As far as school knowledge is concerned, a subject which has taken centre stage in public debate on maturity for an apprenticeship since the PISA educational study, the experts are only able to agree on the importance of the ability to perform basic arithmetic operations and simple mental arithmetic. When it comes to calculating percentages, the rule of three, having a good command of German spelling and speaking skills, a large proportion of the experts (varying between 25% and 44%, depending on the aspect) is unsure as to whether these things are really important for all training occupations.

On the other hand, there is relative unanimity amongst a majority of the experts that writing skills, basic knowledge of measurements of length, area and volume, basic economic knowledge and basic knowledge of English are only important entry conditions for some training occupations at most, and therefore do not form part of the general characteristics of maturity for an apprenticeship.

How have applicants' qualifications developed in the last 15 years?

All in all, the experts take a somewhat sceptical view of the last 15 years. They believe that the achievement potential of training place applicants has fallen. This particularly applies to knowledge taught at school. Nearly all (more than four fifths) are convinced that writing skills, command of German spelling and simple mental arithmetic skills have declined over the past 15 years. And between two thirds and four fifths of the experts also think that the same can be said for the ability to concentrate, understanding of basic arithmetic operations, calculating percentages, the rule of three, basic knowledge of geometry, stamina, carefulness and for politeness (cf. Figure 3).

How have applicants' qualifications changed in the last 15 years?

Opinions are divided on many of the other aspects. Some of the experts believe young people have changed for the worse, others think that achievement potential is comparable with 15 years ago. This applies to such aspects as speaking skills, problem solving ability, capacity for self-criticism, independence, ability to manage conflict, willingness to learn and motivation.

There are, however, some abilities and virtues which are considered to have developed in a positive way by a majority of the experts. These include first and foremost IT knowledge, but also include English language skills and confidence. And around two fifths of the experts believe that the last 15 years have seen an improvement in young people's communication and team skills.

Reasons for the development of the last 15 years

The experts were also asked for the reasons for the development of the last 15 years. A principal component analysis (PCA) 01 of their responses reveals that they have basically identified seven issues: a) changes within the families of the young people, b) the level of motivation the young people display towards their training and work, c) their knowledge of the world of training and work, d) the imparting of values and knowledge by schools, e) the preparation provided by schools for career choice and seeking training places, f) changes in requirements during training and g) changes taking place within the world of work.

As far as two issues were concerned, there was virtually unanimous agreement on the part of the experts. The last 15 years have seen a massive increase in the level of complexity in the world of work, and the pace of change is continuing to accelerate. The consequence of this has been a growth in the requirements within regulated occupations and the demands made by companies in terms of the level of performance of applicants.

Most of the experts (around three quarters to four fifths) also agree that the changes taking place within the young people's families have had a strongly negative impact. They felt there had been a decrease in family cohesion and a significant decline in the imparting of independence, a sense of responsibility and the work ethic. In other words, many young people have to a large extent been left to their own devices within their families.

As far as the imparting of knowledge and values and preparation for career choice and seeking training places on the part of schools are concerned, there was in most cases a lack of coherent opinion amongst the experts. Although slightly more than half believe the extent to which schools impart values and cultural techniques has decreased in recent years, 61% think that the willingness of schools to cooperate with companies has risen, and 48% are of the opinion that schools are taking a more rigorous approach to the issue of career choice.

Around three fifths of the experts attest to a greater level of effort on the part of young people in seeking a training place than was the case for the generation of school-leavers 15 years ago. The difficult situation prevailing on the training places market may well be a contributing factor here. The same size majority also believes, however, that young people's knowledge of the importance of the work ethic is not as great as it once was, and about half think that young people's knowledge with regard to occupational and company requirements has also declined.

What are ultimately the critical causes?

In depth correlating statistical analyses show that the experts perceive a particular connection between the changes in young people's maturity for an apprenticeship and the changes in the family situation of children, and consequently link this to the changes in the young people's work and training motivation. They view these two areas as being the critical causes, rather than the developments going on in schools.

In light of the prevailing nature of the ongoing public debate, this appears a surprising view, but closer consideration provides a explanation in the fact that maturity for an apprenticeship mainly relates to such cross-curricular virtues and qualifications as reliability, a sense of responsibility and consideration for others.

Schools essentially come into the equation when such issues as young people's growing shortcomings in understanding of basic arithmetic operations, the rule of three, calculating percentages and mental arithmetic are considered. The experts, however, see here too a particular connection between the inadequate performance of young people in these areas and the changes in conditions within families. In other words, if young people lack an understanding of classical cultural techniques, the experts also attribute this first and foremost to deficiencies in upbringing and support within families, rather than laying the blame wholly at the door of the schools.

What should be done?

Since the experts associate problems in maturity for an apprenticeship predominantly with the family situation, they also view this domain as providing the essential starting points for bringing about an improvement. More than 90% exhort parents to make greater efforts in each of the following areas:

• imparting basic values to their children,
• assuming responsibility for imparting the work ethic (e.g. punctuality),
• encouraging their children to address the issue of career choice,
• being largely a positive role model for their children and
• generally doing more to ensure maturity for an apprenticeship on the part of their children.

Just as many experts, however (at least nine out of ten in every case) also call for greater integration of schools in the process of encouraging children's development. They feel it is incumbent on schools to take on the basic task of guiding young people towards maturity for an apprenticeship. For this reason, the foundations of willingness to learn and of motivation need to be laid in schools, and school based learning tasks need to be more practice oriented. This means that it is also important to implement more continuing training programmes for teachers related to the world of work.

Companies too, however, are also seen as having a responsibility. 86 % of the experts take the view that, during the applicant selection procedure, firms need to consider the development potential of young people more closely than has hitherto been the case. And about the same number (85 %) believe companies need to take greater responsibility than previously for training less able young people. The view of most of the experts, however, is that this should not simply take the form of lowering requirements, only 25% calling for this. 88 % also believe that companies should offer support to schools in the task of preparing young people and, to this end, should intensify the contact they have with schools.

Approximately 94% of the experts expect young people to assume significantly more responsibility for their own lives than has hitherto been the case. This principally involves learning to evaluate their own skills realistically. 91 % think young people should make greater efforts than previously to establish contact with the world of work.

Differences in opinion amongst the experts

The experts are in agreement on many points. Virtually no one disputes the view that serious thought needs to be given to maturity for an apprenticeship in the light of the increased demands of the world of work and the growing problems within families. There is also a general consensus that even young people who possess the necessary maturity for an apprenticeship can no longer be guaranteed a training place in the current climate and that people with low school marks can be ready for training. At least 85 % of the experts take this view, and the representatives of trade and industry (chambers, employers' associations) largely agree.

There is, on the other hand, a lack of agreement as to whether the problem of insufficient maturity for an apprenticeship is depicted in an exaggerated way and whether complaints about a maturity fo an apprenticeshipshould be allowed to detract attention from the difficult training places situation. The representatives of trade and industry and the trade unions form the two poles of opinion here, the remaining experts taking up positions more or less within the middle ground, depending on the proximity of their views to the two groups.

Thus whereas the trade unions are in virtually total agreement with the two questions stated above, the representatives of trade and industry reject the theses with equal intensity. 31% of trade and industry representatives do, however, concur with the view that complaints about insufficient maturity for an apprenticeship are more apparent when there are too few training places (cf. Figure 4). By contrast, a majority of the trade unionists believe that issues relating to applicant qualification need to be taken absolutely seriously, even if they hold the view that these issues are currently being used for purposes of political interest.

The positions held by those experts who are directly involved in work at a local level, in companies, schools and inter-company training centres, are of particular interest. Although a large proportion of these experts (between 43% and 67%) believe that the issue of maturity for an apprenticeship becomes more contentious when there is a shortage of training places and between 36% (company representatives) and 63% (school representatives) of them take the view that it has been wrong to stigmatise many young people as being "not mature enough for training", a majority of the group nonetheless disputes the thesis that the problem of lack of readiness is being depicted in an exaggerated way. They are clearly strongly basing their answers on the view that, in the light of a difficult training market and the growing demands of the world of work, young people are having a significantly tougher time of it. For this reason, a majority of this group disputes the thesis that the requirements stipulated by the companies are only as high as they are because there are more training place applicants than vacant training places.

Open questions

Even if the results of the expert survey are illuminating in many respects, many questions inevitably remain open. The actual contribution made by the large number of prevocational measures and basic preparation courses, into which there is a steady flow of a large number of young people after they leave general education, has yet to be defined at all. No adequate research results are yet available. A fact which must not be overlooked is that "finish general schooling - start an apprenticeship", the usual way of things in the past, no longer applies in many cases. The average age of those commencing training within the dual system of vocational education and training has now risen above 19. This makes the average age of those starting apprenticeships about the same as that of those leaving school having completed an upper secondary school leaving certificate after three years in the Sixth Form. This precludes a direct extrapolation of research results for the level of performance achieved by pupils within the general school system to the qualification of training applicants.

Although there are informative time series produced by major companies conducting identical tests with applicants every year, these results are only of limited value in scientific terms, since the composition of the applicants changes from year to year, making it unclear what kind of population parameters the persons tested actually represent. A particularly significant factor is the fact that, given the ever-greater scarcity of available training places, less able young people with less chance of success make applications on an increasingly frequent basis. This phenomenon is not restricted to a single year, but may extend over several years if applications are unsuccessful. This inevitably results in a massive increase in the proportion of applications from less able young people, thus giving companies the impression that although more and more young people are applying, there is a decrease in the average level of quality of applicant. This impression would also be created by the level of performance of school-leavers actually remaining the same from generation to generation.

The way in which the market mechanism affects the quality requirements companies have of applicants also remains completely unexplained. Notwithstanding the usual terminology employed in the field of the training market, it is the ultimately the companies for which the training and work of the young people is in demand, since they end up paying for these. The price mechanism, however, does not largely operate as a market force on the training market, since training allowances are stipulated by collective wage agreements. If supply increases (more training applicants), a higher demand can in principle only be accommodated at the same prices if the quality of supply also rises. This means that, if there are more school-leavers, the qualification of the applicants needs to go up in order for the relative proportion of those entering an apprenticeship to remain constant. This will continue to be the case until a rise in the requirement for skilled workers once again provides a demand impetus for companies.

Further German language reading

• Brosi, Walter (2005)
  Aktuelle Probleme der dualen Ausbildung in Deutschland. (Current problems in the dual system of vocational education and training in Germany.)
  In: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Hrsg.)
  "Wir brauchen hier jeden, hoffnungslose Fälle können wir uns nicht erlauben!" Wege zur Sicherung der beruflichen Zukunft in Deutschland. ("We need everyone, we cannot afford any hopeless cases!" Ways of securing the future of occupations in Germany) Bielefeld published by W. Bertelsmann Verlag, 2005.
  
• Eberhard, Verena; Krewerth, Andreas; Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2005)
  "Man muss geradezu perfekt sein, um eine Ausbildungsstelle zu bekommen." Die Situation aus Sicht der Lehrstellenbewerber. ("You need to be virtually perfect to get a training place." The situation from the point of view of the training applicants.)
  In: Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis, 3/2005. pp. 10-13.
  
• Ehrenthal, Bettina; Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2005)
  Zukunft der Berufsbildung aus Sicht der Ausbilder und sonstiger Experten.
  (The future of vocational education and training from the point of view of trainers and other experts.)
  In: Ausbilder-Handbuch, (The Trainers Handbook) 75th Supplement, Chapter 3.1.8, March 2005. pp. 1-22.
  
• Müller-Kohlenberg, Lothar; Schober, Karen; Hilke, Reinhard (2005)
  Ausbildungsreife -Numerus clausus für Azubis? Ein Diskussionsbeitrag zur Klärung von Begriffen und Sachverhalten.
  (Maturity for an apprenticeship - restricted entry for trainees? A discussion article clarifying terminology and fact.)
  In: Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis, 3/2005. pp. 19-23.
  
• Troltsch, Klaus; Krekel, Elisabeth M.; Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2004)
  Wege und Instrumente zur Steigerung und Stabilisierung der betrieblichen Ausbildungsbeteiligung - Ergebnisse von Expertengesprächen in Betrieben. (Ways and instruments to increase and stabilise participation in in-company training - results of expert interviews in companies.)
  In: Krekel, Elisabeth M.; Walden, Günter (Hrsg.)
  Zukunft der Berufsausbildung in Deutschland: Empirische Untersuchungen und Schlussfolgerungen (Berichte zur beruflichen Bildung, Heft 273). (The future of vocational education and training in Germany: empirical studies and conclusions.)
  Bielefeld: Bertelsmann. pp. 53-93.
  
• Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2004)
  Wege zwischen dem Verlassen der allgemein bildenden Schule und dem Beginn einer beruflichen Ausbildung. Ein Rückblick auf die Entwicklung der vergangenen Jahre.
  (Routes between leaving the general education system and beginning vocational education and training. A look back at developments of past years.
  In: Informationen für die Beratungs- und Vermittlungsdienste (ibv) (Information for the Consulting and Intermediary Services - ibv), No. 23/04 from 24 November 2004. pp. 49-60.
  
• Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2004)
  Wer ist schuld an der Ausbildungsmisere? Diskussion der Lehrstellenprobleme aus attributionstheoretischer Sicht.
  In: Berufsbildung in Wissenschaft und Praxis, 3/2004. S. 15-19.
  
• Ulrich, Joachim Gerd (2005)
  Probleme bei der Bestimmung von Ausbildungsplatznachfrage und Ausbildungsplatzangebot. Definitionen, Operationalisierungen, Messprobleme.
  (The problems of determining training place demand and supply. Definitions, operationalisations, problems of measurement.)
  In: Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Hrsg.) (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Ed.)
  Der Ausbildungsmarkt und seine Einflussfaktoren. Dokumentation der Fachtagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Berufsbildungsforschungsnetz vom 01./02. Juli 2004.
  (The training market and the factors which influence it. Documentation from the specialist conference of the Vocational Education and Training Research Network Working Group held on 1 and 2 July 2004.) Bonn: BIBB. pp. 5-36.

Date of publication, information Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

Publication on the Internet: November-15-05

URN: 0035-0162-9

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