Socio‐Economic and Gender Differences in Post‐Secondary Pathways in the UK, Germany, and Australia

Wojtek Tomaszewski, Hans Dietrich, Golo Henseke, Ning Xiang and Ingrid Schoon
Additional contact information
Wojtek Tomaszewski: Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Australia / ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course, The University of Queensland, Australia
Hans Dietrich: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Germany
Golo Henseke: Department of Education, Practice and Society, University College London, UK
Ning Xiang: Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Australia / ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course, The University of Queensland, Australia
Ingrid Schoon: Social Research Institute, University College London, UK

Social Inclusion, 2025, vol. 13

Abstract: This study investigates variations in school‐to‐work transitions (SWTs) by socio‐economic status (SES), gender, and socio‐cultural context. Leveraging data from three nationally representative longitudinal panel studies, we compare the experiences of young people coming of age in the 21st century (2011 to 2023) in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. We examine the role of different support systems that scaffold the SWT process along various post‐secondary pathways, including university, further education/vocational training, and employment tracks, with a particular focus on variations by parental education and gender. Utilizing longitudinal data from the Understanding Society Panel in the UK ( N = 15,692 observations), the German Socio‐Economic Panel (GSOEP; N = 5,464), and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey ( N = 5,759), we track synthetic cohorts born between 1993 and 1995 from ages 18 to 27 in the three countries. We employ linear probability models to conduct a cross‐national comparative analysis, identifying variations in post‐secondary pathways across the three country contexts. The choice of countries is motivated by their shared status as developed economies with distinct features in their SWT systems—contrasting the neoliberal deregulatory frameworks of Britain and Australia with Germany’s employment‐focused dual system. The findings reveal significant effects of parental education on post‐secondary transitions, as well as the differing roles of gender across various educational policy contexts. These results underscore the complexity of SWT when considered in different national settings. The insights generated by this analysis highlight the importance of dedicated policies to support low‐SES youth and promote gender equality in education and employment outcomes.

Keywords: Australia; cross‐national comparative analysis; gender; Germany; post‐secondary pathways; school‐to‐work transitions; socio‐economic status; UK (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/9601 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:9601

DOI: 10.17645/si.9601

Access Statistics for this article

Social Inclusion is currently edited by Mariana Pires

More articles in Social Inclusion from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().