Excellent professional perspectives for dual study course graduates: In a company survey conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), 45 per cent of polled businesses stated that they continue to employ all dual study course graduates after completion of their studies. Another 27 per cent of businesses continue to employ about three quarters of the dual students successfully completing training at their enterprise.
The BIBB had polled a total of more than 1,400 businesses regarding the development of the demand for qualification within the enterprise, the quality of dual study courses on offer as well as regarding the usefulness of the thus obtained qualifications.
The businesses evaluated the dual study courses extremely positively. About 97 per cent of polled enterprises are "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with this instrument of qualifying the next generation of skilled workers. About two thirds stated that the dual study course system is "significantly better" or "better" than a classical university course.
The businesses highlighted in particular the "good knowledge of operational processes", the "capability to work independently" and the "high degree of motivation" differentiating the dual system students from their competitors in the eyes of employers.
According to BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser, this development impressively substantiates the extent to which the industry by now has come to perceive the dual study system as an opportunity for training highly qualified skilled labour to meet their own requirements. "The high rate of continued employment is proof of the high value attributed to dual study courses by businesses. Enterprises offering this desirable form of vocational education and training have a clear advantage in the competition for top talent."
Dual study courses link vocational training with studying at a university, university of applied sciences or university of cooperative education. At best, the graduates thus obtain two qualifications: an occupational and an academic qualification.
In doing so, they attend a particularly innovative, desirable and practice-oriented form of study course providing them with additional advantages. These include, for instance, the direct transfer between theory and practice and the support on part of the employer, often in the form of apprenticeship pay or by absorption of university fee costs.
The range of dual study courses on offer has greatly increased over the course of the past years. For instance, the rate of increase in 2011 was about 20 per cent, compared to 12 per cent in the previous year. Significant increase in 2011 could be observed in the number of enterprise cooperations offering dual study course placements together with a particular university (+ 46 per cent).
In the field of vocational training propositions including additional qualifications, the BIBB database likewise registered a consistently high supply and steadily increasing demand on part of apprentices. This form of vocational training, too, enjoys a high degree of acceptance at the polled businesses. It is used in particular for the purpose of occupational specialisation of young people and young adults.
The enterprise survey showed that apprentices can significantly improve their chances on the labour market also by means of additional qualifications.