Education and Life

Re-interview of high school students after ca. 15 years on data on the
course of private and occupational life as well as questions on
attitudes.

Topics: conclusion of education; contacts with former students;
detailed information on school and occupational training as well as
activities after leaving high school; type of entitlement to university
admission and average grade in high school graduation; reasons for not
attending college; questions on sequence of college and vocational
training; interest in other training occupations and additional
vocational training; desired studies; college goal; planned activity
instead of college; identity of original studies desired and actual
studies; preferred subjects; conclusion or discontinuation of studies;
attitude to studies; change of major; detailed information about
preliminary examinations, intermediate examinations and final
examinations and information on points in time; sources of income or
financing of studies; employment alongside studies and influence of
this activity on duration of studies; usable experiences for studies
and later occupational career from activities during studies;
connection between main focus of studies and first occupational
activity; year of first full-time employment; detailed information
about occupational development; activity description and changes as
well as length of time and area of business of first jobs; occupational
position and time worked each week; income changes between start and
end of the job; reasons for change of position; satisfaction with
occupational development and expected development of one´s own
occupational position in the next few years; satisfaction with
education up to now; interest in employment; assumed point in time for
start of employment; preferred occupation; participation in measures
for occupational further education; detailed information about form and
content of these courses; judgement on these measures for further
education for occupational career; detailed determination of
occupational training examinations and final examinations according to
topics and point in time as well as grades; detailed information on
social origins; occupation of father or substitute father; year of
death of father or mother; living together or separation of parents;
financial support of parents for personal livelihood; year of setting
up one´s own household and members or size of this household; detailed
information on partnership relationship; marriage intent; type and
length of partnership; attitude to a church wedding; occupation and
income of partner; social origins of partner; age difference with
partner; number of children; age and sex of children; responsibility
for child care; desired number of children; questions on raising
children and education style; education aspiration; importance of
family; attitude to age; self-classification as young person or adult;
judgement on prior course of life and biographical wrong decisions;
significant events in life; identification with groups and movements;
attribution of occupational success in general as well as relative to
oneself; assessment of social class; the meaning of life; importance of
areas of life; general private and occupational satisfaction.

Perceived equality of educational chances and general equal
opportunities in the Federal Republic; attitude to environment,
achievement and work; postmaterialism index; political interest;
election biography since 1972; party preference of parents in youth of
respondent; participation in demonstrations; and change of religious
denomination.

Demography: date of birth; religious denomination; frequency of church
attendance; housing conditions and possession of a telephone; consent
of respondent to a later re-interview.

Interviewer rating: number of contact attempts; presence of third
persons during interview and their influence on the conversation;
judgement on reliability of responses; length of interview and date of
interview.

Also encoded was: identification of interviewer.