Tiivistelmä Nuorten aikuisten hidas siirtyminen toisen asteen opinnoista korkea-asteen koulutukseen on koulutuspoliittisen keskustelun vakioaiheita. Osa nuorista jää kuitenkin koulu-urallaan jälkeen muista jo siirryttäessä perusopetuksesta toisen asteen opintoihin. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan yksilötasolla kerätyn pitkittäisaineiston valossa tekijöitä, jotka ovat yhteydessä tähän nuorten koulutuksellista ja ammatillista tulevaisuutta uhkaavaan viivästymään.

Abstract

Transition into secondary education in the Helsinki metropolitan area: direct and delayed paths — or risk for dropout?

The Finnish education system, which comprises nine years of comprehensive schooling followed by tracked non-compulsory upper secondary education (academic vs. vocational), presents a critical choice for 16-year-olds. Almost all students apply to upper secondary education, but 13–15% of each age group continue to lack upper secondary credentials at age 24. Track selection is primarily based on school achievement, which also ties it to gender and students’ home background. All these factors also relate to school dropout at the point of transition or during upper secondary education, especially in vocational education.

The present study draws on a large longitudinal dataset collected in lower secondary schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area in 2011–2018 (n=approx. 13,500). Combining survey and register data, the key focus of the study is on personal and school level factors pertaining to students’ choice of track and direct or delayed path from lower to upper secondary education. While Finnish students’ slow transition to higher education has been a longstanding topic in education policy discussions, our key fnding here was the diversity of paths even in this earlier transition. One in ten students did not follow the expected direct path to secondary schooling, even if we allowed for last minute changes as long as the student was a second-year student two years after the transit. A delayed transit was related to lower school achievement and weaker school engagement, and it was more common for boys, for students entering vocational education, and for students with an immigrant background. Students’ choice of upper secondary track but also a delayed transition to the chosen studies were also related to the class and school of their lower secondary studies.