Employer preferences for vocational over general education: evidence from an employer survey experiment

Abstract

Empirical research on type of education shows that vocational education is advantageous early in the career but that general education may be of benefit later on. To what degree this is shaped by employers’ preference, however, has not received much attention in the literature. This paper seeks to delve into how employers perceive vocational education as opposed to general, and how this perception may vary based on the gender and age of a job candidate. We use a factorial survey experiment of employers and HR managers in Switzerland, where respondents assigned a likelihood of inviting candidates to a job interview who, among other dimensions, varied randomly on their age, gender, and type of education. We find an overall preference for vocational over general education at the tertiary level, but not at the upper-secondary. This is stronger for female candidates than male at the tertiary level. Preferences for vocational education over general do not vary systematically by age.