FSD3074 Vocational School Student Survey 2015

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Study title

Vocational School Student Survey 2015

Alternative Title

VET Student Survey

Dataset ID Number

FSD3074

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3074
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3074

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

  • Research Foundation for Studies and Education (Otus)
  • National Union of Vocational Students in Finland (SAKKI)

Abstract

The Vocational School Student Survey (VET Student Survey) 2015 is a total study charting the experiences of young people studying in Finnish vocational institutions. The survey was conducted collaboratively by the National Union of Vocational Students in Finland (SAKKI), the Research Foundation for Studies and Education (Otus), and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Main themes of the survey included current and former studies, experiences relating to studies, financial circumstances and housing, future plans, and well-being and leisure time.

Relating to studies at the time of the survey, the respondents were asked, among others, their field of education, year of study, and distance to the vocational institution. Earlier studies and applying to vocational studies were charted by asking the respondents, for instance, whether vocational studies had been discussed in their families, whether their friends or siblings studied in a vocational institution, how clear the decision to opt for vocational studies had been, and whether they had worked or completed other studies before starting vocational studies.

Experiences of studies and teaching were examined with questions about the time spent on studies in a week, teaching and guidance received, balancing and managing with studies, and money spent on study materials. Possible learning difficulties and support received for these difficulties were also surveyed. With regard to study progress, satisfaction with studies was charted as well as feelings of studying the right field, prospects of graduating, things slowing down study progress, and views on the importance of vocational studies.

Working, housing and financial circumstances were investigated by asking about working during studies and in the summer, housing during the semesters, financial help from parents and relatives, and sufficiency of money for expenses. Concerning occupational life, opinions were probed on a number of statements about employment as well as employment prospects after graduation, and views on the importance of various things for a successful career. Future plans to study were surveyed. Finally, well-being and leisure time were examined with questions about friends, social relationships, bullying and discrimination, sleep, alcohol use, hobbies and Internet use.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, gender, and mother tongue. The time the respondent had lived in Finland was further charted, along with languages spoken with parents, and parents' employment status and education level.

Keywords

education; educational guidance; labour and employment; living conditions; occupational training; students; upper secondary education; vocational education; well-being (society)

Topic Classification

Series

Vocational School Student Surveys

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (A) openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0).

Data Collector

  • Research Foundation for Studies and Education

Time Period Covered

2015

Collection Dates

2015-01-21 – 2015-03-27

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Students in vocational institutions that provide education for young people in continental Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The link to the survey was sent to all vocational institutions providing education and training for young people in continental Finland (N=105). Each vocational institution was given a unique response identifier to access the survey. Representatives of the institutions were asked to arrange responding to occur during classes to enable as large a sample as possible. Responses to the survey were received from a total of 20,840 students in 87 institutions, resulting in the response rate of 17%.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

17

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish and English.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

306 variables and 20840 cases.

Data Version

2.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The background variable 'age group' (q77) was recoded from the respondents' years of birth and the background variable 'mother tongue' (q79) was coded into three categories: Finnish, Swedish and other. Response alternatives for variable q5 have been recoded so that the highest category is 'Fourth or more'.

The data are missing responses to variables q10 and q45. Responses to variables q30_2_7, q30_2_8 and q30_2_9 have been combined into variable q30_2_9 and for this reason variables 30_2_7 and 30_2_8 were removed from the data during the archiving process. The data are also missing the open-ended 'Other, which?' questions q31_9_2, q35_13_2, q36_16_2, q56_9_2, q74_10_2 and q75_17_2.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable (weight). The weight variable was calculated based on statistical data from the Finnish National Agency for Education's Vipunen reporting portal and corrects for biases by age group, gender, educational institution's Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) area, and field of education. The formula was given a target distribution for each background variable and was refined step by step until it computed a weight variable corresponding to the target distributions. For more information, see the background file in Finnish (bgF).

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Research Foundation for Studies and Education (Otus) & National Union of Vocational Students in Finland (SAKKI): Vocational School Student Survey 2015 [dataset]. Version 2.0 (2018-07-24). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3074

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Other Material

See downloadable files at the top of the page.

Vocational School Student Survey website. Available: http://www.amisbarometri.fi/en/ [retrieved 4.5.2016]

Related Publications Tooltip

Salli, Anna (2019) Huono-osaisuuden yhteys ammatillisen koulutuksen keskeyttämisen ja alan vaihtamisen harkitsemiseen. Sosiaalipolitiikan pro gradu -tutkielma. Tampereen yliopisto. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201909073188

Rajala, Tanja (2020). Kansainvälisyysosaaminen kulttuurisena pääomana ammatillisessa koulutuksessa. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Sosiologian pro gradu -tutkielma. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202008066407

Nurmikari, Elina (2020). Ammattiin opiskelevien nuorten kokonaisvaltainen hyvinvointi: relationaalisia ja temporaalisia näkökulmia. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Yhteiskuntapolitiikan pro gradu -tutkielma.http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:hulib-202012285590

Kauppila, MInttu (2024). The Relationship Between Social and Academic Integration and Dropout from a Gender-Atypical Vocational Education. Master's thesis in Sociology. Turku: University of Turku.

Study description in machine readable DDI-C 2.5 format

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