Processes of Success Among Students in Gender Segregated VET - Qualification and Social Inclusion

The aim of this project is to explore educationally successful processes in gender segregated VET based on qualitative life story interviews. Informants will be recruited from a school based longitudinal dataset (LUNO) of young people in Oslo, and wil focus on the importance of gender segregation for changes in aspirations during VET.

High rates of drop out in vocational upper secondary education is a problem in every European country. On the one hand, about one third of students drop out of or fail to complete upper secondary school in Norway – and the drop-out rate is highest among students in VET programs. On the other hand, the Norwegian VET system, which in general provides two years in school and two years in apprenticeship, ‘leaks’ a substantial number of high achieving VET students after the second year to general education supplementary studies which qualify them for higher education upon completion. Thus, what may be perceived as educational ‘success’ according to the individual and national higher education attainment goals, may be seen as ‘failure’ according to policy aims regarding high quality vocational skill formation at the upper secondary level.

Theoretically, gender has been shown to be of importance for the development of identity as a learner, for failure and success in school, particularly for boys but also for girls. The key objective of this project will be to understand processes related to educational processes and changes in aspirations among students in gender-segregated VET study programmes and give a deeper understanding of the characteristics of gendered school contexts which supports or hinders the completion of VET and transition to apprenticeships. The study will be based on educational life story interviews with selected LUNO-respondents, and strategic short-term fieldwork in gender-segregated study programmes.