Monitoring of Qualification and Employment in Austria – an empirical approach based on the labour force survey (LFS)

The purpose of the study is to make use of the information about ISCED-study-fields available with the LFS since 2004 for a monitoring of the relationship of initial VET to employment in Austria. First a meaningful classification of VET supply (upper and post-secondary ET, higher education) has been constructed; second a set of indicators has been developed and explored using available data. The indicators include three sections (a. demography and gender; b. employment, unemployment and income; c. competences, occupations and trades).

The monitoring should produce signals about risks and opportunities across the ET-supply spectrum, comparing the empirical results for the various programmes. The results are not meant to produce „hard evidence“, but rather empirical indications which should draw attention to certain areas of risk, in order to decide about further inquiries. The theoretical approach is “constructivist”: the results should provide an input into a social system of knowledge production among the various stakeholders to create common reflection about the empirical relationship between supply and demand.