New configurations of labour insertion processes. The case of secondary technical and vocational education and training students in Chile

This article presents the results of a longitudinal study that followed a sample of 1011 young people who completed their secondary technical and vocational education and training studies in Chile between 2011 and 2016. It adopts a mixed design that combines both quantitative and qualitative methodological strategies to analyse transitions and post-study trajectories. Analysis has helped to identify the prevalence of non-linear and unstructured transitions to the labour market. It has also shown the existence of education-work links and employment alternatives that are generated in certain sectors as well as identified how these give rise to specific opportunity structures that affect on aspirations and career pathways. Results indicate that graduates of the industrial area of study experience more substantive educational integration and labour links following course completion due to greater levels of alignment between their training and the productive demands of the industrial sectors. However, their experiences over the medium term are fragmented and, thus, reflect those of their peers from other areas.