Age and Social Background as Predictors of Dropout in Second Chance Education in Germany

Claudia Schuchart,Benjamin Schimke

doi:10.1177/07417136211046960

Abstract

Second chance education (SCE) has been established to offer adults the opportunity to catch up on higher qualifications, for instance the eligibility to study. SCE often suffers from high dropout rates, but little is known about the reasons. This article investigates whether dropout rates depend on family background and age, and if so, why. Data from 3278 students at an institution of SCE in Germany who entered this institution between 2000 and 2016 are analysed using logistic path modelling. The results show that the higher dropout probability of socially disadvantaged students can be traced back completely to poorer academic performance in SCE, partly associated with an unfavourable previous school career. Older students are – irrespective of their family background and despite a better academic performance – more likely to drop out than younger students. If SCE aims to reduce these dropout risks, strategies should vary for different groups of students.

Highlights

Young people who graduate from university are more likely to get better paid jobs than those who do not, and for them there is a lower risk of being unemployed (Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development [OECD], 2013)
second chance education (SCE) suffers from high dropout rates, among disadvantaged students (Bellenberg et al, 2019; Raymond, 2008, p. 26)
In this article the reasons for this group-specific dropout risk among SCE students are analysed, and this contributes to existing research in the following ways: 1) some research has been done on the dropout risk in compulsory education (e.g Vaughn et al, 2013), at university (e.g. Reisel and Brekke, 2009), and in further education (e.g. Hofmann et al, 2020), this is not the case for SCE, where dropout behaviour has only rarely been investigated empirically (Bellenberg et al, 2019; Darkenwald & Gavin, 1987; Garrison, 1988; Raymond, 2008)

Summary

Introduction

Young people who graduate from university are more likely to get better paid jobs than those who do not, and for them there is a lower risk of being unemployed (Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development [OECD], 2013). Hällsten, 2017; Schindler & Lörz, 2012), we use a more integrated approach (Boeren et al, 2010) and take into account the special situation of adult participants in SCE We do this by linking social background and age to the previous educational and occupational career. In the 2016/2017 school year, 29,000 learners in Germany participated in SCE leading to the ETS, and 15% of all eligibilities to study acquired in general education were obtained via SCE (Bellenberg et al, 2019) Despite this relatively low percentage, SCE has great symbolic significance in Germany’s highly selective general education system because it offers adults the opportunity to upgrade their school qualifications irrespective of their age, previous school career and economic situation.

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Conclusion