Heidrun Schneider

The participation rate in counselling services among dropouts form engineering sciences at universities of applied sciences in Germany is particularly low. This article presents results of a qualitative survey of dropouts from the perspective of habitus and milieu research (Bourdieu 1982; Vester et al. 2001) and identifies obstacles that prevent students from making use of counselling services. As a result of a pilot project, in which professors and faculty management were also involved, a communication strategy was developed and the offer of support (even without obligatory participation) was integrated more bindingly into the course of study. Both changes have increased the participation rate significantly.

Most German states have recently reduced the duration of university preparatory schooling from 13 to 12 years without changing the graduation requirements. We use nationwide data on high school graduates and the different timing of reform introduction in the federal states to identify the effects on post‐secondary education decisions and to evaluate potential effect mechanisms. The results show that university enrolment of female students decreased in the first year after graduation in all analyzed states, whereas participation in voluntary service or staying abroad increased. Furthermore, students from non‐academic families are more affected than students from an academic family background

Most German states have recently reduced the duration of university preparatory schooling from 13 to 12 years without changing the graduation requirements. We use nationwide data on high school graduates and the different timing of reform introduction in the federal states to identify the effects on postsecondary education decisions and to evaluate potential effect mechanisms. The results show that university enrollment of female students decreased in the first year after graduation in all analyzed states, whereas participation in voluntary service or staying abroad increased. Furthermore, students from non-academic families are more affected than students from an academic family background

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.