Agricultural pupils in vmbo often switch sector when they move to mbo

One third of pupils in preparatory secondary vocational education (vmbo) choose a different discipline when they move on to senior secondary vocational education (mbo). For vmbo pupils in agricultural disciplines this proportion if twice as large. More girls than boys switch disciplines, except in the sector ‘health and personal care and welfare’. Furthermore, people with a non-western foreign background are more likely to switch than native Dutch pupils, except in the economics sector.

Two-thirds of pupils in vmbo agriculture choose a different sector

Just over two-thirds ((68 percent) of fourth year vmbo pupils in 2007/'08 who were in agriculture training chose a different sector to continue their education at mbo level in the subsequent year. They often switched to a subject in the ‘health and personal care and welfare’ sector. Most vmbo pupils in other sectors chose to continue their training in the same sector. Just over two-thirds of all fourth-year vmbo pupils who were in an mbo course one year later stayed in the same sector.

Fourth year vmbo pupils in 2007/'08 moving to mbo in 2008/'09*

Girls more likely to switch than boys

More girls than boys switch sector when they move from vmbo to mbo. Only boys doing ‘health and personal care and welfare’ in vmbo change more often: 62 percent of them chose a different sector when they went on to mbo. For girls in vmbo ‘health and personal care and welfare’, only 27 percent switched sectors. This is a sector that attracts more girls than boys in the first place: 86 percent of fourth year vmbo pupils doing ‘health and personal care and welfare’ were girls.

On the other hand in vmbo ‘engineering and technology’, only 4 percent of fourth year pupils were girls. Half of them changed direction when they went to mbo. More boys stayed true to this discipline: only one in five switched sector when they went to mbo.

Sector switchers vmbo 2007/’08 – mbo 2008/’09* by sex

Non-western foreign pupils switch least after vmbo economics

Vmbo pupils with a non-western foreign background switched sector more than native Dutch pupils, except those doing economics in vmbo. Fewer than one quarter of vmbo pupils with a non-western foreign background doing economics moved to another sector when they reached mbo. For native Dutch pupils doing economics, this percentage was much higher ((33 percent). This fits in with the overall picture that vocational training in economics disciplines is popular among students with a non-western foreign background.

Sector switchers vmbo 2007/’08 – mbo 2008/’09* by ethnic origin

Eva Gorree