German National Educational Panel Study Research Articles

The gendered impact of parenthood on job-related training participation in Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract Recent studies highlight the role of parenthood in perpetuating persistent gender inequality in the labour market. We examine whether the transition to parenthood influences job-related training participation. This study uses fixed-effects models and longitudinal data from the German National Educational Panel Study (starting cohort 6, 2010–2021) and Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (2010–2019). Our findings show that women’s job-related training participation decreases following parenthood in both countries, but that this decline is steeper in Germany and persists beyond the early stage of parenthood. Furthermore, our mediation analysis shows that parental leave is one of the main drivers of the motherhood penalty in job-related training in both countries. In contrast, when men have a first child, it has a small negative effect on training participation levels in Germany and no effect in the United Kingdom. This study sheds light on the gendered impact of the transition to parenthood on job-related training participation and how the country context influences these relationships.

Aiming high: Learning investments in German upper secondary education. Differences between immigrant and non-immigrant youth

This article addresses important aspects of the largely unexplored interplay between high educational aspirations and low academic achievement in migratory contexts. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), I examine the determinants of learning investments of students who changed from vocational to academic tracking at the transition to upper secondary education. I also explore additional social challenges to upward track mobility that might affect immigrant students in a particular way. As educational disparities are often interpreted as a cumulative consequence of class- and migration-specific educational choices, I develop a learning investment model that explains differences in learning investments between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. I introduce the essential mechanisms of psychological motivation theory into a subjective expected utility (SEU) model, which allows for a specific examination of the relationship between educational aspirations, motivation, and learning investments. Results show that newcomers to academic tracking are more likely to invest in learning. Yet, learning investments in upward mobility processes may be influenced by the different learning environments of stratified education and by family dynamics. Here, I find differences between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. Thus, introducing motivational factors into an SEU model helps to understand when youth invest in learning.

Parental stress and working situation during the COVID-19 shutdown – Effects on children’s skill development

ObjectiveThis study examines whether parental emotional distress during the first pandemic-related school shutdown in 2020 in Germany affected the development of primary school students’ mathematical skills and investigates changes in parents’ working conditions as triggers of cascading stress processes. BackgroundThe Family Stress Model (FSM) explains the mechanisms that mediate between families’ structural conditions and children's developmental outcomes. Foundational works for this approach focus on historic events that instigate rapid structural changes which, in turn, undermine families' economic situation. The economic losses trigger stress processes. Research on the COVID-19 pandemic reports heightened levels of parental stress and negative impacts on children's cognitive and socioemotional development. This study examines the role of parental emotional distress during the COVID-19 shutdown on children's cognitive development. Expanding on the classical FSM, we hypothesize that changes in parents' working situation, rather than economic changes, may have triggered family stress processes during the shutdown, as federal support largely cushioned economic cutbacks in Germany. MethodFor the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), interviews were conducted with parents, and primary school students in Starting Cohort 1 were tested after the first shutdown in 2020. The database provides rich information from survey waves prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a longitudinal analysis of a sample of 1512 primary school students with ordinary least squares regression. ResultsParents’ emotional distress during the pandemic had a robust negative effect on students’ mathematical skills, even when controlling for prior parenting stress. Changes in parents’ working conditions also had an effect on children’s test scores, and the negative effect of working from home on the test scores was mediated by parents’ emotional distress. ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic was a historic event which, at least in Germany, challenged the mental health of many parents and, in turn, impaired the skill development of primary school students. We introduce the role of changes in working conditions as triggers of such processes.

CILS4NEPS – Unlocking Research Potential Through More Participants, More Schools and International Comparison: Harmonized Data for Research on Education, School-to-work Transition and Integration Processes for Adolescents in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and England

Abstract The CILS4NEPS project combined and harmonized panel data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) and Starting Cohort 4 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS SC4). This unlocks additional research potential beyond the scope of both individual datasets by increasing sample sizes and enabling international comparisons of the NEPS data. Both, the combined dataset as well as additional material to reproduce and expand the harmonization are available to users. In this article, we will first introduce the individual datasets and their comparability and describe the steps of the harmonization process. Furthermore, we will present the comparable content between both surveys, the structure of the harmonized dataset, and weighting issues. Subsequently, we provide descriptive statistics, the analytical potential, and information on data access. Lastly, we will finish with an outlook on the continuing harmonization of CILS4EU and NEPS SC4.

Social Inequalities in Study Trajectories: A Comparison of the United States and Germany

Social origin affects not only access to higher education but also how students proceed through higher education. Based on the argument that an advantageous family background facilitates linear study trajectories through parents’ provision of cultural and economic resources, this article investigates study trajectories in Germany and the United States, assessing the institutional structures as an intermediating factor. We reconstruct study trajectories of bachelor-degree-seeking students using sequence analysis based on two high-quality panel data sets (U.S. Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and the German National Educational Panel Study). The findings reveal that study trajectories are more complex overall and shaped by social origin in the United States. In both countries, study trajectories differ by higher education institution type. We conclude that not only are access pathways to higher education shaped by the institutional context of higher education systems but also that study trajectories and the disparities structured by socioeconomic background are equally institutionally embedded.

Competing explanations for inconsistent responding to a mixed-worded self-esteem scale: Cognitive abilities or personality?

In survey scale design, a mixed-worded format intends to ensure attentiveness as respondents need to take into account the wording direction when answering an item. However, some respondents tend to deliver inconsistent responses (i.e., agreeing or disagreeing with both positively and negatively-worded items), posing a validity concern. Two potential directions driving inconsistent responding have each individually been put forward: lack of cognitive abilities to effectively deal with the mixed-wording and sheer carelessness while responding. Using a factor mixture approach, we investigated inconsistent responding on Rosenberg's self-esteem scale as a function of both cognitive ability and personality. Among n = 4938 Grade 5 students from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), 11 % were classified as inconsistent respondents and class memberships were further related to four cognitive abilities (cognitive reasoning, cognitive speed, reading comprehension, reading speed) and five personality traits (conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness). Model comparison results indicated that both ability and personality predictors matter with a more prominent role for ability (especially reading comprehension). We discuss the implications of these findings for mixed-wording's suitability for scale construction and different populations and how researchers can deal with suspected inconsistent respondents in their survey data.

Interests and personality matter in the choice of teacher education program

In this paper, we examined whether it is possible to predict German teacher students’ study specialization (i.e., type of school) from data on their personality (in terms of the Big Five) and vocational interests (in terms of the RIASEC model) using multinomial logistic regression. Gender and intelligence were included as control variables. Two studies are reported. The first study (N = 1,145 teacher students) took place at a German university, while Study 2 used data from the German National Education Panel Study (NEPS; data from N = 944 teacher students). In both studies, it was found that the model fit increased significantly after adding personality and vocational interests as predictors (compared with a baseline model containing only gender and intelligence as predictors). Findings show that the model of vocational interests and the Big Five personality model can be used to differentiate between teacher students with different specializations. In the long run, results like these could be used in the field of counseling to help clients who are determined to become a teacher but unsure about which specialization might be most appropriate for them.

Children’s aspirations, their perceptions of parental aspirations, and parents’ factual aspirations—gaining insights into a complex world of interdependencies

Abstract Children’s educational aspirations have been shown to be highly relevant for their educational trajectories and, therefore, researchers have tried to understand how and when these aspirations are formed. The influence of parental aspirations on the development of children’s aspirations has often been the focus of such investigations in previous studies. Going beyond these earlier approaches, we address the question of how children’s aspirations might be influential for their parent’s aspirations. We also investigate if it is children’s perception of parental aspirations or parent’s factual aspirations, which play a role in the formation of children’s aspirations. This article contributes to the literature, first, on a theoretical basis, by providing a reasoned and interdisciplinary framework about mutually dependent processes of aspiration formations within families. Second, an empirical contribution is given, using data from the German National Educational Panel Study and analyzing the aspirations of 4,511 children and their parents. Our cross-lagged panel models show that children and parents influence each other in their aspirations mutually over time, with children being affected by both, the parent’s factual aspirations and the children’s perception of those. We give empirical-driven guidelines for future research on aspiration formation.

The relevance of tracking and social school composition for growing achievement gaps by parental education in lower secondary school: a longitudinal analysis in France, Germany, the United States, and England

Abstract There is substantial variation in the degree of social stratification in students’ achievement across countries. However, most research is based on cross-sectional data. In this study, we evaluate the importance of social origin, namely, parents’ education, for achievement inequalities during lower secondary school using recent longitudinal microdata form the French Direction de l’Evaluation de la Prospective et de la Performance panel, the German National Educational Panel Study, the US-American Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 1998, and the British Millennium Cohort Study. We evaluate whether country differences can be attributed to different tracking systems or the social composition of schools. We find substantial SES gaps in math achievement progress in all four countries but more pronounced gaps in England and Germany. Yet, within-school SES gaps are similar across countries suggesting that the allocation of students to schools drives country differences. Moreover, we find that between-school tracking in Germany accounts for a large share of the SES gaps, whereas course-by-course tracking seems less important in the other countries. The role of schools’ social composition is similar across countries.

Social events, bridging courses, and academic skills trainings – participation in first-year courses and higher education dropout in Germany

ABSTRACT Despite the substantial efforts made by higher education institutions to reduce dropout rates, a considerable proportion of students still discontinues their initial study program. In view of this situation, the present study aims to investigate whether participation in first-year courses for personal and academic support goes along with a decreased risk of student dropout, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. We draw on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, student cohort) and apply mediation analysis based on event history models and linear regression models for students in the fields of mathematics/natural sciences and humanities. Our findings reveal that participation in social events for students in both subject groups and academic skills trainings for students in mathematics/ natural sciences is associated with a lower risk of student dropout, which is, partially, mediated by increased social integration. Attendants of bridging courses (often also referred to as summer bridge programs) do not have a lower risk of higher education dropout than students who did not participate. The results highlight the need for comprehensive evaluations of course effectiveness and a more frequently offering of academic skills trainings in STEM subjects.

The Role of School Context Factors for Gender Role Attitudes: General and Differential Associations Between Female and Male Adolescents

During adolescence, socialization of gender role attitudes (GRA) shifts from parents to peers, friends, and classmates; thus, it takes place primarily in the school context. Accordingly, previous studies identified school-related factors associated to adolescents’ GRA. However, little is known about the relative importance of these factors as well as about the factors’ differences between females’ and males’ GRA. This study investigates the relevance of several school factors on adolescents’ GRA and gender differences. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study ( N = 10,866), the results show that attending a higher educational school type, higher classmates’ socio-economic background, lower proportion of female classmates, and more egalitarian classmates’ GRA are related to more individual egalitarian GRA. Furthermore, the relation between classmates’ GRA and individual GRA is more pronounced for males than females. The study further discusses starting points for possible interventions.

The Digitalization Boost of the Covid‐19 Pandemic and Changes in Job Quality

The Covid‐19 pandemic caused a digitalization boost, mainly through the rise of telework. Even before the pandemic, advancing digital transformation restructured the way of working and thereby changed the quality of jobs—albeit at a different pace across occupations. With data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we examine how job quality and the use of digital technologies changed during the first pandemic year in different occupations. Building on this, we analyze change score models to investigate how increased workplace digitalization connects to changes in selected aspects of employees’ subjective job quality. We find only a weak association between the digitalization boost in different occupational fields and the overall decrease in subjective job quality. However, telework—as one aspect of digitalization—is connected to a smaller decrease in work–family reconciliation and conformable working hours. Thus, it may buffer some detrimental pandemic effects on job quality. In addition, telework is connected to increased information overload, creating a new burden for specific employee groups.

High realistic aspirations – Do normative pressures overthrow rational calculations? Applying the model of frame selection to the educational aspirations of immigrant and majority students in Germany

Educational aspirations are of interest to scholars in several disciplines. They can affect multiple aspects of educational success and have been shown to differ between major social groups. Explanations for educational aspirations typically link to two main models of aspiration formation: the Wisconsin model (WM) and rational choice theory (RCT). Whereas the WM highlights significant others’ educational norms, RCT cites cost-benefit calculations to explain how aspirations are formed. As it is still unclear how the two approaches interrelate, we apply a third model, namely the model of frame selection (MFS), which allows the integration of both WM and RCT arguments. In short, it suggests that the importance of others’ educational norms moderates the relevance of own cost-benefit calculations. We assume that considering this interrelation is fruitful when explaining aspirations in general, and specifically when explaining immigrant students’ aspirations, who often perceive high educational obligations by their parents. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we test prognoses derived from the three theoretical models for their relevance when explaining the aspirations of Turkish and German students. Results indicate that the processes suggested by both WM and RCT shape aspirations. Consistent with the MFS, these processes also interrelate in that parents’ educational norms reduce the relevance of students’ own cost-benefit calculations. This interrelation does not only apply to Turkish students but holds for all students in the sample.

How does the home learning environment contribute to private tutoring attendance? A study among Grade 8 students in Germany

ABSTRACT This study investigated whether various aspects of the home learning environment – that is, learning-related processes, parental perceptions of their child, and structural characteristics – predicted private tutoring attendance in Grade 8. We used the data of 7393 students from the German National Educational Panel Study. Seventeen percent of eighth-graders took private tutoring. Logistic regression analyses revealed that parental perceptions of their children’s learning enjoyment and independence in Grade 7, and socio-economic status, a structural characteristic of the home learning environment, were positively associated with private tutoring attendance in Grade 8. However, neither the quantity (homework assistance) nor the quality of learning-related parent–child interactions in Grade 7 played a role. Besides replicating previous results on the role of socio-economic background, the study indicates that the decision to take private tutoring is not a simple reaction to poor achievement, but is adjusted to the child’s learning experience and parent-perceived need for support.

School-to-Work Transitions under Unequal Conditions: A Regionalised Perspective on the ‘Discouraged Worker’ Hypothesis

Against the background of considerable regional disparities, we test the “discouraged worker” hypothesis, which postulates that poor regional socioeconomic conditions foster students’ aspirations for more education, ultimately leading to an extension of their educational careers. Our two dependent variables are (i) whether students aspire to prolong their general school careers or enter vocational training and (ii) whether they in fact prolong their school careers. To that end, we link regional-level data to individual-level data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). To describe regional conditions adequately, we illustrate geographical patterns in socioeconomic conditions relevant for school-to-work transitions (e.g., labour market conditions and availability of vocational training opportunities). We compare two operationalisations of regional areas: (i) administrative districts and (ii) public transport areas. Our results show that students are more likely to aspire to prolong their general school careers in socioeconomically deprived regions. Moreover, the effects are stronger when school-based vocational training opportunities are scarce. The effects on actual transitions vary according to the school track attended and the availability of educational alternatives in the general school system. Finally, the operationalisation of regions varies regarding effect sizes and corresponding levels of statistical significance.

Pre-existing company contacts and premature termination of apprenticeship training in Germany

Using longitudinal data from Starting Cohort 4 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we examined whether pre-existing strong ties and weak ties in the training company are associated with the risk of premature termination of apprenticeship training in Germany. This is highly relevant for the literature on social capital in the labor market since so far little is known about the role of social contacts for the turnover propensity of labor market entrants. By examining a potentially important factor for a successful labor market integration, our research also adds to both the school-to-work and the social stratification literature. Our empirical results are only partly consistent with our theoretically derived expectations. While contrary to our expectations, we found no association between strong ties and termination probability, weak ties were, as expected, associated with a lower probability of premature training termination among those apprentices who were trained in their desired occupation. Our main results, combined with several robustness checks, let us assume that this is due to better matched training situations.

Do changes in perceived teacher behaviour predict changes in intrinsic reading motivation? A five-wave analysis in German lower secondary school students

AbstractAlthough several longitudinal studies have confirmed that need-supportive teacher behaviour shapes intrinsic motivation in school, longitudinal studies on its role for intrinsic reading motivation are lacking. To fill in this gap, this study investigated whether changes in selected aspects of student-perceived teacher need-supportive behaviour in German lessons predicted changes in intrinsic reading motivation. We also investigated how student intrinsic reading motivation and perceived teacher need-supportive behaviour changed over the course of lower secondary school. To this end, we used data of 7634 German students gathered between Grades 5 and 9 as part of the German National Educational Panel Study, five measurement occasions in total. The analyses, which involved univariate latent change score and change–change models, revealed decreases in perceived teacher need-supportive behaviour and intrinsic motivation between Grades 5 and 9. Moreover, the decreases in perceived teacher need-supportive behaviour in German lessons predicted decreases in intrinsic reading motivation. The study provides first evidence of longitudinal relationships between perceived teacher behaviour and intrinsic reading motivation. It also suggests that adjusting the classroom learning environment to student needs may contribute to alleviating the decrease in intrinsic reading motivation observed in multiple studies.

“Why are we learning this?!” — Investigating students’ subjective study values across different disciplines

AbstractDifferences between academic disciplines have been a well-studied theme in higher education research. But even though students’ subjective study values are a key factor for successful studying, research examining their disciplinary differences in the higher education context is lacking. To address this, this study draws on expectancy-value theory, investigates students’ subjective study values across nine different disciplines, and analyses its discipline-specific relation to study success. For this, we used a large-scale data sample of N = 6.321 university students from the German National Educational Panel Study. Subjective study values were assessed in terms of intrinsic values, utility values, attainment values, and costs, while study success was captured by students’ grade and dropout intention. Data were analysed through multi-group structural equation modelling. Our findings suggest that (1) students’ subjective study values differ markedly across academic disciplines and (2) study disciplines moderate the relation between study values and study success. On a research level, our findings contribute to a more differentiated view on subjective study values in the higher education context. On a practical level, our findings can help to uncover motivational problems of students from different disciplines, which might ultimately help to reduce dropouts and improve grades.

Socio-economic inequalities in body mass index among preschool children: do sports programs in early childhood education and care centers make a difference?

Overweight in childhood is considered to be one of the most serious public health challenges. Many studies have investigated individual-level determinants of children's body mass index (BMI), yet studies exploring determinants at the meso-level are sparse. The aim of our study was to examine how a sports focus at early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers moderates the effect of parental socio-economic position (SEP) on children's BMI. We used data from the German National Educational Panel Study and included 1,891 children (955 boys and 936 girls) from 224 ECEC centers in our analysis. Linear multilevel regressions were used to estimate the main effects of family SEP and the ECEC center sports focus, as well as their interaction, on children's BMI. All analyses were stratified by sex and adjusted for age, migration background, number of siblings, and employment status of parents. Our analysis confirmed the wellknown health inequalities in childhood overweight with a social gradient toward a higher BMI for children from lower SEP families. An interactive effect between family SEP and ECEC center sports focus was found. Boys with low family SEP not attending a sports-focused ECEC center had the highest BMI among all boys. In contrast, boys with low family SEP attending a sports-focused ECEC center had the lowest BMI. For girls, no association regarding ECEC center focus or interactive effects emerged. Girls with a high SEP had the lowest BMI, independent of the ECEC center focus. We provided evidence for the gender-specific relevance of sports-focused ECEC centers for the prevention of overweight. Especially boys from low SEP families benefited from a sports focus, whereas for girls the family's SEP was more relevant. As a consequence, gender differences in determinants for BMI at different levels and their interaction should be considered in further research and preventive measures. Our research indicates that ECEC centers may decrease health inequalities by providing opportunities for physical activity.

Preference-choice mismatch and university dropout

Drawing on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we show that students who select majors that do not match their occupational preferences prior to enrolling in university are more likely to drop out than those who do choose majors that match their occupational preferences. Our findings suggest that this gap cannot be explained by institutional obstacles to entering a major. Instead, the primary mechanisms behind this phenomenon are indecisiveness and preference changes.