OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING AND EARLY CAREERS - GERMAN MODEL OR CRISIS

The German mode of occupational training is mainly built on the dual s ystem of apprenticeship training synchronously within firms and within state-controlled vocational schools. This training system has become even more important in regard to participation rates over the last dec ades and is rightly considered one of the pillars of both German econo mic competiveness and of the high degree of social integration in this country. But recently many observers have diagnosed a severe crisis o f this institution and have even predicted its vanishing. This paper p rovides a systematic account of the two sides of this debate and exami nes the evidence on the basis of secondary sources and original analys es based on recent longitudinal studies. It concludes in affirming the basic stability of the close institutional and empricial linkage of e ducation, training and early occupational careers in Germany.