The influence of social and cultural constructs on the institutionalisation of good behaviour and skill formation in Germany and Britain

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I compare skill formation systems of the UK and Germany (DE) with special attention to the conceptualisation of the target group "youth" within social and cultural context. UK society considers skill formation as important, while policies towards centralised vocational skill formation beyond uni struggle to be accepted. Scholars explain this with institutionalisation theories, tracing back the evolution of skill formation systems for blue-collar training, referring to DE as role model. This research lacks social and cultural conceptualisation of the target group, other branches hint to a strong link between social context and institutionalisation of skill formation as well as between the evolution of vocational skill formation and the public discussion in UK and DE about educational (employable, trainable) youth, and adolescents. These concepts motivated further educational measure/policies, while different systemic approaches in DE and UK led to different trajectories. Following questions guide my research: Is there a relationship between countries' social and cultural understanding of youth and adolescents, the role of the state, and the development of their skill formation system over time? How did states' will to address the behaviour of the working class in the beginning of the 20th century shape the institutionalisation of non-cognitive skills, and skill formation in DE and the UK thereafter? A mixed-method approach focusses on the institutionalisation of behaviour and non-cognitive skills as part of the skill formation system in DE and the UK, using a precise review of primary sources and academic articles. In a concise two step literature review, I first extend the theoretical basis for my research, analysing theories and empirical findings about the influence of social and cultural influences. I then analyse the literature to spot the role of the social group youth within the society, and policies, targeting youth who are NEET from 1900 until today by analysing policy outcomes, as well as contemporary social and cultural beliefs and statements. I compare policy outcomes using cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The federal structure of DE as well as the regional disparities in the UK are expected to yield sufficient variation for quantitative analysis on regional level. To test for possible relationships between historical institutionalisation, social constructs of youth, and the process of policy implementation, I identify crucial events and decisions of institutionalisation and their influence. I use multivariate analysis, running various linear regressions that include social and regional controls. The use of Geographic Information Systems is expected to be adequate both for visualization and for data analysis. I collect primary data from historical statistics, law terms, contemporary documents (e.g. policy texts, handbooks, maps, and reports), biographies, and national and European policy guidelines, and assemble an own data set. I combine these data with secondary sources, and a variety of existing data sets, such as the European Social Survey and European Value Surveys, national social reports, education guidelines, national employment reports, or Eurostat, to create a novel data set on the development of youth care, employment support, and vocational education. In year one I review the literature and (re-) establish contacts for research in the UK and DE, e.g. regional or national archives. In the second year, I collect data, which will be compiled into dataset for statistical and qualitative analysis. I connect the data to existing data providing regional controls, from there to be analysed. In year three, I will write up the results. My research tackles the issue of social exclusion of youth NEET due to the skill formation system. I aim to provide a deeper understanding of how institutions, established for youth education, are formed, and changed.