Stratification and Differentiation of Tertiary-Level Vocational Education in Switzerland: How Does It Affect Social Inequality?

Vocational education plays an important role in Switzerland. Two thirds of all adolescents enter upper-secondary-level vocational training. After completion they have the option to continue their education at the vocational tertiary level.

Over the last decade tertiary vocational education has been newly established on two levels: the ISCED 5A-level includes universities of applied science, the ISCED 5B-level professional colleges, which have lower entry requirements. Tertiary vocational education has thus become more differentiated but also more stratified.

Previous research has shown that highly stratified systems are more selective and lead to more social inequality. A high degree of differentiation, on the other hand, facilitates labour market entry also for low-achieving individuals (Shavit et al. 2007, Pfeffer 2008; Kerckhoff 1995). Whether this also holds for the vocational tertiary-level has, to our knowledge, been rarely investigated. Against this background - and by using the large group of vocational healthcare students, our paper examines whether access to the ISCED A and B-level of tertiary-education differs by social background, gender and academic achievement.

The analyses are based on a longitudinal survey of a full sample of healthcare assistant students (n=953). The data were collected at two time points: (1) at the end of upper-secondary (apprenticeship) training and (2) one year after its completion. Educational choices were analyzed using multinomial logistic regressions.

Results show that access to the more stratified and thus more selective ISCED 5A-level education depends more strongly on social background and gender, facilitating the transition for men and students from affluent families. Academic achievement plays a similar role in the transition to both options. Given that access to ISCED 5A-level education seems to increase social inequality, future research should ask how entry barriers, particularly for women and individuals from lower social origins, may be lowered.