Adolescents' development of occupational aspirations in a tracked and vocation-oriented educational system

The formation of occupational aspirations is an important developmental task during adolescence, and aspirations are an important predictor of occupational attainment in adulthood. This paper investigates the formation and development of occupational aspirations in a tracked educational system. We focus on the social status of occupations and take Switzerland as an example. We use data of the Swiss Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth to examine how characteristics of the educational pathway influence the status of adolescents' occupational aspirations between the ages of 15 and 21. Our findings show that the level and development of adolescents' occupational status aspirations differ by tracks of upper-secondary education. Whereas young people in baccalaureate school decrease their status aspirations slightly over time, those in some types of vocational education and training increase their aspirations considerably. Overall, the results support the assumption of a strong relationship between the development of occupational status aspirations and the structure of the educational system.