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Completion rates are one measure of the success of apprenticeship training. But little is known about outcomes for youth who begin an apprenticeship in high school. This paper draws primarily on interviews with youth who did not continue training or work in their high school apprenticeship trade in two Canadian provinces. [The authors'] analysis focuses on why these youth decided to enrol in high school apprenticeship, why they did not continue and what they did afterwards. Findings suggest that a narrow focus on apprenticeship training completion diverts attention from the complex learning and work transitions experienced by most youth. Instead of assuming a linear pathway from school-to-trades work, [the authors] argue that partners involved in high school apprenticeship and policy-makers could do more to raise student awareness of multiple trajectories and skills transfer, make apprenticeship training more expansive, and increase the flexibility of pathways by providing greater articulation between different post-secondary education pathways and opportunities to change direction.

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This summary paper is based on the summary research report by Alice Bednarz published by [National Centre for Vocational Education Research] NCVER in 2014, 'Understanding the non-completion of apprentices'; a review that draws together existing data and research on why apprentices do not complete their training. Of the 200,000 currently undertaking a trade apprenticeship in Australia, it's estimated that half drop out. Why? It is not so much to do with the rates of pay but more to do with their overall experience of the work and how they are treated by their boss or colleagues. In this talk, [the author presents] some of the reasons why apprentices don't complete their training and what can be done to address the attrition rates.

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Participation in post-compulsory education has increased substantially since the 1970s (ABS 2011), but gender, socio-economic status and locality continue to influence who remains in education and who leaves (ACARA 2012; Curtis and McMillan 2008). This thesis addresses the issue of the low Year 12 completion rates in rural Australia through an investigation of how young people living in a rural area of Tasmania subjectively construct their postcompulsory educational choices. The study is based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with Grade 10 students, parents and teachers in a small rural town as well as interviews with Australian policy makers with the objective of examining how young people aged 15-16 years make plans for their future careers. Bourdieu's (1990) concepts of social and cultural capital and the habitus and Connell's theory of the gender order (2005) are used to analyse participants' experiences.

Key findings include that place was a critical factor in the construction of a distinctive rural habitus characterised by a strong attachment to and relationship with people and place and particular forms of masculinities and femininities. A combination of traditional working class culture and an emphasis on physicality as embodied performance was linked to the dominance of a form of masculinity in the community which was carried across to the informal school culture in ways that influenced both male and female participants' decisions about whether to continue at school.

Decisions to leave school early were linked to the possession of tight-knit local networks, limited travel, and predominantly local forms of knowledge. Those who decided to continue their education were more likely to possess globalised forms of social and cultural capital. For many young men their successful performance of a particular form of place based hegemonic masculinity was in tension with the cultural capital of the School and was associated with an intention to leave education as soon as they could. At the same time, many of these respondents believed that in making this choice, they were setting themselves up for failure. Other young men and women felt marginalised in the masculinity hierarchy, and their experiences of oppression and a sense that their academic efforts went unnoticed and unrewarded resulted in a decision to leave school before completion of Year 12.

There were, however, exceptions. Some academically high achieving individuals with global forms of social and cultural capital still decided to leave their education because of experiences of marginalisation. Some of the most stigmatised young people with local forms of social and cultural networks also intended to continue their education despite their experiences of marginalisation within the formal and informal culture of the School. The policy implications arising from this study include greater attention to gender practices within the School, the provision of a wider range of leisure activities in the local community and encouraging young people to become familiar with environments beyond their local area.

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In the Europe 2020 strategy, one of the goals is to have at least 40 per cent of 30-34-year-olds complete higher education. Reducing dropout and increasing completion rates in higher education is one of the key strategies for achieving this goal, which is regarded as crucial for creating the high-level skills that Europe's knowledge-intensive economic sectors need as well as for Europe's capacity to innovate and foster productivity and social justice. Related to this challenge, this report addresses a comparative study on higher education dropout and completion in Europe (HEDOCE). It is based on an extensive review of literature and policy documents on study success in higher education, a Europe-wide survey of national higher education experts and eight in-depth country case studies. The main aims of the study are: (1) to make an inventory of policies and developments in study success in 35 European countries; and (2) to explore the available evidence of the effectiveness of policies and good practices in addressing study success on the country-level as well as the institutional level.

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This chapter presents the results of a quantitative analysis of national data covering Danish students who in the period 1995-2009 completed an upper-secondary school programme and entered a higher-education science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) programme. The analysis focuses on identifying variables that change the hazard ratio for (1) entering a STEM programme and (2) leaving a STEM programme without completing it. Finally, the chapter explores (3) the destinations of students who leave a STEM higher-education programme. It is found that there has been no change in the relative chance of a male or female student entering a STEM programme. The results suggest that female students are more affected by achieving a high grade-point average [GPA] and by the educational background of their parents than are the male students. The relative risk of non-completion is higher for women than for men, but the most important factor is GPA on entry. A disturbing result is that when students leave a STEM programme, only one third enter another STEM programme. Slightly more enter a non-STEM programme while non-STEM leavers only rarely enter a STEM programme. Non-completion in STEM higher education is a net loss of STEM graduates.

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Despite copious research on the labor market returns to college, very little has adequately modeled the pathways of non-completers or compared their outcomes with those of award-holders. In this paper, [the authors] present a novel method for linking non-completers with completers according to their program of study. [The authors] use this method to calculate the labor market returns to programs of study, accounting for those who obtain an award and those who do not. [The authors] use a large dataset of community college transcripts matched with earnings data. [The authors] find that different classification systems - by algorithm, intent or goal - yield very different enrollment patterns across programs. Importantly, these classifications make a substantial difference to earnings patterns. Returns vary by program completion and by program non-completion. Consequently, combining completers and non-completers yields a new pattern of returns. [The authors] find that the variance in returns by subject of study is reduced when [the authors] combine data on completers and non-completers. In particular, the large returns to nursing awards are substantially lower when [the authors] account for the probability of completing a nursing program and the returns to not completing a nursing program. In addition, progression per se does not lead to higher earnings for non-completers: progressing further in a nursing program is no different from accumulating general college credits. If validated, these findings have significant implications for policies on program choice and on student retention policies.

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Lake Washington Technical Academy (LWTA) is a dual enrollment high school located on the campus of a technical college with a focus on serving at-risk youth who have either dropped out or left their previous high school for a number of reasons. Students endeavor to earn a high school diploma and significant college credits that can lead to an associate degree or a certificate. This study describes the demographic and academic characteristics of students who first enrolled at LWTA from Fall 2006 through April 2011 in order to evaluate the potential impact of a policy change which occurred in the Fall of 2009. Beginning Fall 2009, LWTA established a policy that students who entered the program with a high school GPA below 2.0 were at greater risk for academic failure and would need additional support to be successful. LWTA implemented the Gateway to College program as an intervention for this group of students and retained its original model for students determined to be at lower academic risk upon entry.

This dissertation utilizes Tinto and Pusser's (2006) model of institutional action as a theoretical framework to articulate the theory of change that is proposed to increase academic achievement of the at-risk students post Fall 2009. This study examined differences in three measures of academic achievement (cumulative first year GPA, attainment of a high school diploma, and attainment of a college credential) between groups of students, referred to as policy cohorts. The study also examined variables that could be useful in predicting these differences. Regression analysis indicated the most important variables in predicting first year GPA were being in an at-risk policy cohort and age at entry. Variables that contributed to the prediction of attainment of a high school diploma were race, COMPASS math score, number of credits earned at entry, and first year cumulative GPA. The strongest predictors of attainment of a college credential were being in the at-risk policy cohort, age at entry, and first year cumulative GPA. This study has important implications for dual enrollment programs and interventions designed for at-risk and dropout youth.

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Apprentice attrition continues to impact on skills shortages in the automotive retail service and repair industry. Many apprentice mechanics join the industry direct from school but many leave within the first year of their apprenticeship. This research examines the experiences of apprentice mechanics in a growing multicultural geographic area on the outskirts of Melbourne in an attempt to demystify the reasons for the exodus of apprentice mechanics in the automotive repair sector. Previous research has identified reasons for apprentice attrition yet many of these studies are general in approach and have not examined the issues facing automotive apprenticeship or considered the specific geographic context.

Aggregation of data in previous research on apprenticeships has led to significant factors for attrition being overlooked. This research has identified remuneration during the apprenticeship and on completion as a significant factor for leaving the apprenticeship and the industry. In addition to this, many respondents reported a masculinist culture deeply embedded in the industry. This in some part characterises the workplace culture and environments of mechanics that is, more often than not, not conducive to apprenticeship completion and staying on in the industry. The automotive industry is desperate for skilled labour as technological innovation falls heavily on the repair sector, but changes in the industry both in terms of remuneration and workplace culture are required. This research argues that independent studies need to be conducted into the automotive repair sector specifically to validate the reasons found here for attrition and to advise industry stakeholders and government so that the industry can change to become more amenable to apprentice completion and well paid and valued work.

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Amid expanded college access over the past several decades, as many as 86 per cent of on-time high school graduates now continue their education. But the era of 'college for all' has yielded a new set of challenges and obstacles for young people and the institutions that serve them, particularly community colleges. The authors find that many young people who enroll in community college fail to complete their studies and attain a degree, and that these youth fare no better in the labor market than those with only a high school diploma. Using data from the nationally representative Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS), the authors examine the circumstances of youth who drop out of community college before attaining a credential, discuss institutional challenges in the era of increased college access, and outline a research agenda to help youth move beyond 'some college' and achieve their potential.

Edited abstract from publisher's website. Show less

This paper utilizes a comprehensive longitudinal dataset containing a census of every public high school student in Florida to describe two- to four-year college transfer patterns. [The] main finding is the significant degree to which community college transfer students are sensitive to distance: relative to recent high school graduates, community college transfer students are considerably less likely to choose a four-year institution located far away. In addition, students who attend a two-year college located far from any four-year institutions are less likely to transfer at all. This sensitivity is important given that for many community college transfer students, the nearest four-year institution is characterized by low instructional expenditures and graduation rates.

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