Publications

Mit der Einrichtung des Europäischen Hochschulraums und der Internationalisierung von Arbeitsmärkten haben Auslandserfahrungen für den individuellen Bildungs- und Karriereweg an Bedeutung gewonnen. Verschiedene empirische Studien zeigen in diesem Zusammenhang, dass sich Auslandserfahrungen sowohl auf die Persönlichkeits- und Kompetenzentwicklung als auch auf die Karrierechancen förderlich auswirken. Trotz dieser Vorteile wagt nur ein Teil der Studierenden den Schritt ins Ausland.

On the basis of theories of cultural reproduction and rational choice, we examine whether access to study-abroad opportunities is socially selective and whether this pattern changed during educational expansion. We test our hypotheses for Germany by combining student survey data and administrative data on higher education entry rates. We find that studying abroad was socially selective during the entire observation period. Selectivity increased between 1991 and 2003 and hardly changed thereafter. Unexpectedly, the expansion of higher education does not explain this development.

Most German states have reformed university preparatory schooling during the last decade by reducing its duration from 13 to 12 years without changing the graduation requirements. In this paper, we use nationwide data on high school graduates and apply a difference-in-differences approach to evaluate the reform effects on post-secondary education decisions. The results show that enrollment in university education in the first year after high school graduation is reduced in all analyzed states, while participation in voluntary service or staying abroad is increased. In some subgroups, depending on state, gender and family background, university enrollment is decreased additionally beyond the first year.