Longitudinal effects of social background on educational and occupational pathways within early and strong school tracking

Transitions from education to work are subject to person-related factors and institutional opportunity structures. Life course research increasingly focuses on longitudinal effects of social background on educational and occupational pathways within early and strong school tracking. In this context, Switzerland is a paradoxical case because its education system exhibits elements that should both reinforce and weaken social background effects. We draw on data from a PISA 2000 school-leaver cohort. Employing sequence analysis, optimal matching and longitudinal latent class analysis, we find that persistence tendencies are more pronounced in the academic stratum, compared to vocational and precarious strata. Conversely, the education system and labour market allow for a good integration of weak academic performers. Overall, we show that social background and performance determine selection into tracks, after which effects of opportunity structures take over.