The Standing of Dual Apprenticeships in Germany : Institutional Stability and Current Challenges

Abstract

In Germany, while the dual system creepingly seems to lose attractiveness among school leaver, “academisation” in conjunction with “vocationalisation” mark an adaptation of the apprenticeship system to higher education – which may be called “tertiary vocational education” or “dual study programs”. Besides the situation on the training market with its obvious ambivalences, this raises the question whether the dual system, which is widely renowned for its functionality and its firm role within the German economy, can defend its traditional rank as a supplier of skilled employees and with it its relevance for the socialisation of young people. Besides academisation, digitalisation and other modernisation issues certainly now have an impact on the VET system and its socio-economic acceptance and esteem. The paper tries to sketch some of these current issues with respect to the cultural and economic standing of the dual system within German society by focusing, besides historical aspects, the specific kind of “subsidiarity” within the dual system that underlies the standing of apprenticeships in this country. By commenting on the importance of the influences from relevant policy developments we point out that it is not just the “duality” which characterises the German VET system but its typical kind of institutionalisation.