Social mobility profiles of vocational and technical anatolian high school students: Eski̇şehi̇r province example

The aim of the research is to examine the relationship between social mobility expectancies of students in vocational and technical secondary education institutions and the vocational and technical secondary education process in the example of Eskişehir. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study. The data were collected by survey of 797, 12th grade vocational and technical Anatolian high school students from 7 schools in Eskişehir and with 25 semi-structured interviews of 8 students, 8 graduates and 16 teachers. Qualitative and quantitative research data were collected and analyzed simultaneously, and two data groups were equally weighted. It reveals that students from families with low socioeconomic and sociocultural profiles tented to prefer vocational high schools so as to get into the work life as early as possible. It has been found that students who have a strong tendency to capitalize on their professional skills, distance themselves from capitalizing on academic skills. Although it is evident that the tendency of students to recommend vocational high schools is rather low, but they still have a high preference if they were given another opportunity. This study shows that the students perceive the vocational high schools as a shelter in terms of the possibility of facilitating a work life in a short period of time and thus making them favorite in the labor market. It is found that students perceive vocational high schools as a trap in terms of finding a job with comfortable working conditions, high prestige and income levels and getting access to higher education. It has been found that the forms of perception that described as shelter and trap are both intertwined and do not mutually exclude each other. Social mobility expectations of students are horizontal, limited and vocational education, even though it is not the only factor in shaping the expectations. It has been found that the expectations of the students and the existing social conditions also significantly overlap. Key Words: Education, vocational and technical education, sociology of education, sociology, social mobility, social stratification.