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Aspiration–Attainment Gaps Predict Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being After Transition to Vocational Education and Training in Germany

An occupational aspiration–attainment gap (AAG) is defined as a discrepancy between the socioeconomic status (SES) of the aspired and the attained occupation. We investigated how experiencing an occupational AAG after transition to vocational education and training (VET) affects three domains of subjective well-being (SWB)—namely, general life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and income satisfaction—among adolescents in Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we could track respondents’ SWB across their transition to VET and over a period of 1 to 2 years after VET entry. Results from latent growth curve models revealed that both under- and overachievement of aspirations reduced in particular initial levels of SWB (especially job satisfaction and income satisfaction) after VET entry. Strong discrepancies between aspirations and attainment (AAG ≤ |5| ISEI [International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational Status] score points) in particular led to higher dissatisfaction. Individuals with an AAG tended to experience a slightly larger increase in SWB during VET than those who met their aspirations. Overall, our results suggest that the decisive factor for adolescents’ SWB is not the SES of the VET position they attain, but rather whether that position is the exact type of position to which they aspired, irrespective of whether the status of that occupation is lower or higher than the one they aspired to.