Young people’s job-search strategies in the German apprenticeship market: Who relies on referrals by strong ties and why?

Abstract

Social capital is often regarded as an important resource when searching for a job. However, unlike in the general labor market, in youth labor markets, leveraging network contacts does not necessarily enhance young people’s chances compared to formal job-search methods. Who then uses referrals by strong ties to support their school-to-work transitions? Drawing on the German National Educational Panel Study, we focus on noncollege-bound students searching for apprenticeship places. We investigate whether parental referrals are more likely to be used as a compensation strategy for limited opportunities due to regional conditions and lower levels of schooling and whether this search strategy entails a trade-off in terms of higher dropout risks. Our results indicate that in regions with poor regional labor market conditions, young people use parental referrals more often and also increasingly find apprenticeship places via referrals. Moreover, using referrals does not result in higher dropout risks. Lower-educated school leavers are also more likely to use referrals but they do not benefit from this search channel more than higher-educated youth. We conclude that social contacts can at least partly compensate for poor opportunities due to regional market conditions. © The Author(s) 2022.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Apprenticeships school-to-work transitions Regional inequality job-search strategies referrals social networks strong ties youth labor market

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Research Unit Skill Formation and Labor Markets, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Research Unit Skill Formation and Labor Markets, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung, Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, Universität zu Köln, Koln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany

Funding & Acknowledgements

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG

Grant: PR 1788/1-1

Funding text 1: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).; Funding text 3: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG

Funding text 1: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).; Funding text 3: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF

Funding text 1: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).; Funding text 3: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB

Funding text 1: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).; Funding text 3: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).

Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe, LIfBi

Funding text 1: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).; Funding text 3: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 4, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC4:10.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network. We would like to thank Laura Menze for very helpful advice on editing NEPS. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the ECSR 2020 meeting for early career researchers and workshops organized by the DFG Priority Program 1764 The German Labor Market in a Globalized World: Challenges through Trade, Technology, and Demographics, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. We would like to thank Heike Solga, all participants, and the editors and anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and suggestions. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number PR 1788/1-1).

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Young people’s job-search strategies in the German apprenticeship market: Who relies on referrals by strong ties and why?

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