Study title

Perceptions of Vocational Education: Second-year Students in Vocational or General Upper Secondary Education 2018

Dataset ID Number

FSD3336

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3336
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3336

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• IROResearch

Abstract

The survey charted the perceptions, experiences and opinions of second-year students in vocational or general upper secondary education regarding vocational education and training in Finland. Main themes included, among others, reasons behind the respondents' choice of upper secondary education, perceptions of how general and vocational upper secondary education are appreciated, and opinions on studying. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Culture and Skills Finland. Data collection was conducted by IROResearch.

First, opinions on studying were examined with various statements concerning, for example, whether the respondents thought that studying was interesting, they studied because they had no other option, and their parents were interested in how they succeeded in their studies. Factors affecting the respondents' choice of upper secondary education (e.g. wanting to have a job with good pay, location of the school/education facility, parents' opinions) were also surveyed.

The respondents were asked how interesting different educational paths had been for them personally when they had applied to upper secondary education (e.g. general or vocational upper secondary education, tenth grade) and how satisfied they were with their choice of education. Alternative paths of education the respondents had considered when applying to upper secondary education were also surveyed, as well as whether they had been accepted to their primary choice. The respondents' plans after completing upper secondary education were examined (e.g. whether they planned to work straight away or study more). Finally, the respondents were presented with some attitudinal statements relating to, for example, whether they thought their upper secondary education would be useful in their future work and whether they would choose a different path of education if they could reapply.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, mother tongue, whether they studied in vocational or general upper secondary school or in both, municipality of residence, region of residence (NUTS3), parents' highest level of education and occupation group, and whether they had received any special support in school during the past two years.

Keywords

education; educational choice; educational opportunities; educational provision; upper secondary education; upper secondary schools; vocational education

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Vocational education and training (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Youth (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Higher and further education (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• IROResearch

Data Producers

• Ministry of Education and Culture

Time Period Covered

2018

Collection Dates

2018-10-10 – 2018-11-14

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Second-year students in vocational or general upper secondary education in Finland

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Simple random

In total, 600 second-year students in vocational or general upper secondary education were interviewed by phone.

Collection Mode

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)

Research Instrument

Semi-structured questionnaire

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.

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

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3333 Perceptions of Vocational Education: Ninth-Graders 2018

FSD3334 Perceptions of Vocational Education: Parents of Ninth-Graders 2018

FSD3335 Perceptions of Vocational Education: Lower Secondary School Guidance Counsellors 2018

FSD3337 Perceptions of Vocational Education: Adult Students in Vocational Education 2018

FSD3338 Perceptions of Vocational Education: Human Resources Administration in Companies 2018

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Variables K34 denoting the respondent's municipality of residence, K35 and K36 denoting the highest level of education of the respondent's parents and K40 denoting the kind of special support the respondent had received in school include more specific information in the data than in the questionnaire.

To prevent identification of participants, response options "Tampere" and "Other city" were combined into one category in variable K34 denoting the respondent's municipality of residence.

The data do not contain open-ended variables or open-ended responses to response option "Other, please specify".

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

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

IROResearch: Perceptions of Vocational Education: Second-year Students in Vocational or General Upper Secondary Education 2018 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2020-06-16). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3336

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.

Open-ended responses to the surveys are available as attached files in the PDF reports (in Finnish).

Related Materials

Ammatillisen koulutuksen mielikuvatutkimus 2018: Kvantitatiivinen osa: peruskoulun 9.-luokkalaiset, ammatillisessa koulutuksessa tai lukiossa toista vuotta opiskelevat, ammatillisessa koulutuksessa opiskelevat aikuiset sekä peruskoulun 9.-luokkalaisten vanhemmat (2018) IROResearch & Skills Finland & Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö.

Related Publications

Ammatillisen koulutuksen mielikuvatutkimus 2018: Keskeiset tulokset (2018) IROResearch & Skills Finland & Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö.

Ammatillisen koulutuksen mielikuvatutkimus 2018: Kvantitatiivinen osa: peruskoulun 9.-luokkalaiset, ammatillisessa koulutuksessa tai lukiossa toista vuotta opiskelevat, ammatillisessa koulutuksessa opiskelevat aikuiset sekä peruskoulun 9.-luokkalaisten vanhemmat (2018) IROResearch & Skills Finland & Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö.