Typical career pathways of academically and vocationally qualified employees - competition and/or complementarity?

The relationship between higher vocational certificates and higher education certificates – in particular with regard to their usability in the job market – has been discussed in the course of the higher education structural reform and in the context of the equivalence of higher education and vocational qualifications as stipulated in the German Qualifications Frameworks. This paper presents the concept and first conclusions of a project aiming to trace typical qualification sequences and career paths in selected industry sectors (commerce, banking, logistics, tourism) and identifies competitive situations. The usability of selected qualifications in the job market (for example, employment status, position, income) is evaluated from the companies’ and the individuals’ perspective by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The main goal of the project results is the future development of qualification profiles for vocational education and training which are perceived by companies and by individuals as an attractive and equivalent alternative to academic education.