Vocational education, tertiary education, and skill use across career stages

Abstract Vocational education enhances smooth transitions into the labour market. However, this initial advantage might vanish over the career and eventually turn into a disadvantage because the skills of vocationally trained workers become outdated faster. So far, research has examined this potential vocational trade-off by assessing labour market outcomes such as employment and income. This study uses a different approach, it directly examines how different types of skills used at work change over the career of vocationally trained workers compared to tertiary-educated workers, and how career events shape skill-use changes. With data from the German National Education Study (NEPS), we examine five skills use dimensions based on job-tasks measures: analytical, creative, managerial, interactive, and manual skills. We find that skill-use differentials between vocational and tertiary-educated workers are only small to modest. The clearest differences relate to analytical and manual skills. Looking across career stages, the observed skill-use differentials remain rather stable across career stages—thus, the vocational skill trade-off thesis is only partially supported. Occupational mobility and unemployment contribute to observable changes, whereas job-related further training does not. Our results challenge skill-based explanations of a vocational trade-off.