Career guidance at the transition from school to vocational training or university

Due to the high demand towards higher qualifications, the vocational education system in Germany is coming under increasing pressure. In order to cope with the future needs of those who have obtained the university entrance qualification (Abitur), the political and economic level calls for targeted career guidance at the upper level of school. Looking at school curricula as well as university practice, it becomes evident that there are no concepts addressing this gap so far. A possible explanation for this is that career guidance which is geared towards a matching process does not fully meet the needs of the target group. In our view, the extension of vocational orientation to include social-scientifically and subject-based aspects offers the possibility to foster curricular developments in this field.
This paper describes a design-based research project that builds on these ideas and has been developed conceptually by academics and teachers and jointly tested by pupils and students. In this context, the world of work is regarded as a research and learning environment which, through the application of the learning by research method, permits reflection on the societal and personal reasons for initial career choices and for vocational reorientation