Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany: Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandBeitrag in Buch/SammelwerkForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Nicole Tieben

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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Titel des SammelwerksEducation, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS).
UntertitelMethodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment.
Herausgeber/-innenSabine Weinert, Gwendolin Blossfeld, Hans-Peter Blossfeld
Herausgeber (Verlag)VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften
Seiten225–248
Seitenumfang24
ISBN (elektronisch)978-3-031-27007-9
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-27006-2
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 14 Apr. 2023

Publikationsreihe

NameMethodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment
ISSN (Print)2367-170X
ISSN (elektronisch)2367-1718

Abstract

In recent years, the high rates of higher education dropout have raised attention of education research and policy makers in Germany. However, due to data privacy legislation, it remains challenging to obtain information about the individual progress of students through higher education and the destinations of non-completers. With conventional administrative or cross-sectional data, it is not possible to distinguish non-completion from dropout, so that it mostly has to remain unclear if non-completers reach graduation elsewhere. This contribution uses the retrospective life course data of the NEPS starting cohort 6 to empirically disentangle non-completion and dropout of full-time students in higher education. We discuss the methodological challenges of conventional approaches and show how the advantages of retrospective life course data can be exploited for higher education research. We furthermore examine the destinations of non-completers and dropouts as well as the labour market returns of dropouts, using sequence data analyses and logistic regressions. Our results show that conventional designs possibly are prone to overestimate dropout rates. Longitudinal analyses of destinations after dropout reveal that the permeability between vocational training and higher education is not unidirectional. Vocational training is a relevant absorber of higher education dropouts, but at the same time, vocational qualifications that were gained prior to higher education work as safety-net that buffers labour market risks of dropouts.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Zitieren

Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany: Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers. / Tieben, Nicole.
Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). : Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment.. Hrsg. / Sabine Weinert; Gwendolin Blossfeld; Hans-Peter Blossfeld. VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften, 2023. S. 225–248 (Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment).

Publikation: Beitrag in Buch/Bericht/Sammelwerk/KonferenzbandBeitrag in Buch/SammelwerkForschungPeer-Review

Tieben, N 2023, Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany: Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers. in S Weinert, G Blossfeld & H-P Blossfeld (Hrsg.), Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). : Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment.. Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment, VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften, S. 225–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27007-9_10
Tieben, N. (2023). Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany: Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers. In S. Weinert, G. Blossfeld, & H.-P. Blossfeld (Hrsg.), Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). : Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment. (S. 225–248). (Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment). VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27007-9_10
Tieben N. Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany: Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers. in Weinert S, Blossfeld G, Blossfeld HP, Hrsg., Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). : Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment.. VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften. 2023. S. 225–248. (Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-27007-9_10
Tieben, Nicole. / Dropping out of Higher Education in Germany : Using Retrospective Life Course Data to Determine Dropout Rates and Destinations of Non-Completers. Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). : Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment.. Hrsg. / Sabine Weinert ; Gwendolin Blossfeld ; Hans-Peter Blossfeld. VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften, 2023. S. 225–248 (Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment).
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abstract = "In recent years, the high rates of higher education dropout have raised attention of education research and policy makers in Germany. However, due to data privacy legislation, it remains challenging to obtain information about the individual progress of students through higher education and the destinations of non-completers. With conventional administrative or cross-sectional data, it is not possible to distinguish non-completion from dropout, so that it mostly has to remain unclear if non-completers reach graduation elsewhere. This contribution uses the retrospective life course data of the NEPS starting cohort 6 to empirically disentangle non-completion and dropout of full-time students in higher education. We discuss the methodological challenges of conventional approaches and show how the advantages of retrospective life course data can be exploited for higher education research. We furthermore examine the destinations of non-completers and dropouts as well as the labour market returns of dropouts, using sequence data analyses and logistic regressions. Our results show that conventional designs possibly are prone to overestimate dropout rates. Longitudinal analyses of destinations after dropout reveal that the permeability between vocational training and higher education is not unidirectional. Vocational training is a relevant absorber of higher education dropouts, but at the same time, vocational qualifications that were gained prior to higher education work as safety-net that buffers labour market risks of dropouts.",
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N1 - This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort Adults, 10.5157/NEPS:SC6:11.1.0. 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.

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