LIFETRACK Publications

Social origins, tracking and occupational attainment in Italy

This study looks at the long-term effects of pupils’ choices between academic and vocational tracks at age 14. It finds that while there is no difference in employability between the … Read more

Social origins, track choices and labour-market outcomes: evidence from the French case

This paper examines the consequences of following an academic versus vocational path in upper secondary school in France in terms of job attainment and earnings at the entrance into the … Read more

Formal differentiation at upper secondary education in Finland: subject-level choices and stratified pathways to socio-economic status and unemployment

This paper looks at how Finnish students’ track placement at upper secondary school is associated with their later-life socio-economic status and probability of unemployment using high-quality full population register data. … Read more

Does tracking really affect labour-market outcomes in the long run? Estimating the long-term effects of secondary-school tracking in West Germany

This paper investigates to what extent track attendance in secondary education affects labour-market prospects of West German individuals with similar starting conditions. The article also focuses on whether track attendance … Read more

Tracking in Israeli high schools: social inequality after 50 years of educational reforms

This paper looks at how the Israeli system of sorting children into one of five programmes for their upper secondary school education affects their higher education attainment and earning prospects … Read more

The early labour-market returns to upper secondary qualifications track in England

This paper examines if people who followed the academic track (A-levels) rather than the vocational track (NVQs) in upper secondary education in England show differentiated occupational level and disposable income … Read more

Upper secondary school tracking, labour market outcomes and intergenerational inequality in Denmark 

This paper is a comprehensive analysis of how secondary school education of Danish children affects their early job and earning prospects. Using administrative data on more than 50,000 children born … Read more

Educational tracking and long-term outcomes by social origin: Seven countries in comparison

This paper uses longitudinal data from seven countries to assess how systems of educational tracking can impact on social mobility. Studies which simply compare comprehensive and tracked systems may be … Read more

Compensatory and multiplicative advantages: Social origin, school performance, and stratified higher education enrolment in Finland

This research finds that even in Finland, enrolling in higher education depends on students’ school performance and their parents’ education. The study uses register data from Finland, where students take … Read more