Research showed that female adolescents in Switzerland report
more difficulties in finding an apprenticeship after school than
males. The present study examines the hypotheses that this can
also be explained by a much smaller number of available vocational
educations and places for apprenticeships within typically female
interest areas and often higher levels of required scholastic
aptitude within these areas compared to typically male interest
fields. To test the hypotheses, the study undertakes a typological
analysis of the Swiss vocational education market in 2006, applying
the RIASEC typology from Holland (1997). This model of analysis
allows direct comparisons to the well-established international
research literature on gender differences in vocational interests.
Both hypotheses were confirmed. Implications for theory and practice
are presented.
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