Pursuing Successful Transition to Decent Work of Vocational High School Graduates in Korea: Comparing Specialized versus Meister Schools

• In Event: Rethinking ways of knowing and learning for justice and inclusion: Cases from secondary and post-secondary education

Proposal

Introduction
Globally, the labor market is increasingly driven by market forces, resulting in job instability and insecurity. Diverse researchers and policy makers agree on the importance of decent work for all people with fair income, safe working conditions, equal opportunity, social protection, and social inclusion, including underrepresented groups (Duffy et al., 2018; Masdonati et al., 2022). Due to Korea’s excessive pursuit of college education, indicating a 70% college admission rate among 25-34-aged adults (OECD, 2021), vocational high school (VHS) graduates often face marginalization in the labor market for their poor employment circumstances, limited promotion, and lower earnings (Yu et al., 2020). 23% of Korean 25-64-year-olds with lower secondary education earned below 50% of the median income in 2019, below the OECD average of 27% (OECD, 2021).
Against this backdrop, the Korean government initiated the Meister High Schools (MHS) as the premium VHS in 2010 to help their graduates find decent jobs upon graduation. Compared to standard Specialized High Schools (SHS), MHS have complete control over curriculum and resources, hiring of former business executives as principals, and tuition-free status for students. Now MHS excelled in a higher employment rate, highlighting the benefits of qualified CTE on high school graduates’ quality employment (Yu et al., 2020).
Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of Vocational Education and Training (VET) characteristics on having decent work for VHS graduates, comparing MHS graduates and SHS graduates. We explored how VET interventions ranging from in-school to out-of-school activities are likely to follow the decent work clusters depending on the school type.

Theoretical framework
School-to-Work Transition (STWT) covers the uncertain and challenging developmental challenges faced by young adults through their integration into the workplace (Schoon & Silbereisen, 2009). Applying psychological working framework to the STWT context, Masdonati et al. (2022) postulated that socioeconomic constraints, marginalization, and psychosocial factors have an effect on their successful STWT, which is moderated by the school education system or labor market conditions. Following this perspective, we assumed that VHS graduates would experience marginalization in the labor market with college premium and credential inflation (Phang & Lee, 2006). However, a quality VHS education system may help their graduates to have decent work. Several studies support that participating in industry-based or collaborative VET programs help students improve their employability (Choi & Lee, 2013; Kim, 2012; Ko et al., 2021; Roh & Hur, 2013).

Methods
We used Korea Education and Employment Panel II (KEEP II) data collected by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET). This panel study has been tracking data on academic achievement, career choice and preparation, and employment of 10,770 second-grade high school students from 2,167 schools (KRIVET, 2016) since 2016, with the fourth wave released in 2020. We selected 1,615 paid workers who graduated from SHS or MHS in 2018 and began their first career upon graduation.
For the dependent variable, we identified objective measurement of decent work based on prior literature (Anker et al., 2003; Bescond et al., 2003; Burchell et al., 2014; Choi & Lee, 2013; Choi, 2005; Phang & Lee, 2006). We selected seven indicators from Anker et al. (2003)’s study that provided the fundamental indications of decent work defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The statistical measurement included education-skill match, social insurance, employment status, labor hours, earnings, social benefits, and labor union. Independent variables include gender, father’s socio-economic status, job sector, career maturity, school type, majors, VET interventions such as afterschool activities, curriculum satisfaction, certificates, and part-time job experience

Results and Discussion
In order to identify the appropriate number of latent classes of decent work, we applied latent class analysis to cluster respondents’ responses to decent work indicators. Estimates suggested the three-class solution was plausible given the fit indices of BIC, aBIC, cAIC, and Entropy. Class1 was labeled as “all low”, which all indicators were at the lowest level among all classes (20%). Class2 was named as “low reward” due to the relatively low level of earnings and benefits (37%). Class3 was labeled as “all high”, which shows high performance over indicators (43%). 
SHS graduates with equally distributed gender dominated Class1 and class2, while a majority of MHS graduates and males comprised the class3. Engineering and science fields were the most common in class3 whereas commercial and service majors dominated class1. When it comes to job sectors, class1 mainly consisted of retails, logistics, accommodation, and food sectors, while class3 included most manufacturing and construction sectors.
The result of the multinomial logistic regression analysis showed school type was one of the significant factors determining decent work clusters, even in models with controlling household and job sectors. When compared to SHS graduates, MHS graduates have a lower probability of entering classes 1 and 2, while increasing their chances of entering class3. Compared to other majors, business and service majors and engineering and science majors increased the probability of pursing class3.
Furthermore, the effect of VET interventions on determining the decent work group depended on school type–MHS versus SHS. Having more VET afterschool activities and curriculum satisfaction increased the probability of following the class3 for SHS graduates. On the other hand, the probability of being class3 was higher for MHS graduates with a greater number of vocational certificates and without part-time job experience, and vice versa for class2. These activities were significant for decreasing the probability of SHS graduates’ pursuing class1.
The result implies that, depending on the school system, different VET interventions ranging from in-school to out-of-school activities may affect the quality of graduates’ labor market performance. While MHS provides several benefits for their graduates’ employment outcomes, SHS can still benefit from individualizing VET initiatives. This study suggests potential VET interventions tailored to each school type be addressed to their graduates’ smooth school to work transition. Further studies can be conducted to determine which VET interventions are specifically effective in which majors.

Author

• Seong Ji Jeong, THE Ohio State University