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Reasons for choosing a technically oriented education: an interview study within the fields of pipefitting and industry

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Abstract

The article examines how professionals within technical businesses describe their ways into their trade and why they have remained. Semi-structured interviews, analyzed by analysis of narratives, have been conducted with six informants within pipefitting and industrial work aiming to understand how technically oriented professions can attract young potentials into the field. The results from the study are thus a contribution within the field of vocational education, in order to understand why youths should consider to study the Energy Programme or the Industry Programme at upper secondary school. The results show that factors that influence people to start working within technically oriented trades are: (1) to use your hands to screw things together, (2) to get an income and (3) if relatives work in the branch. Based on the study it is not obvious to young people what they want to do when they have graduated. But the study also shows that even though the choice of careers is not obvious from the beginning people who chose the field of pipefitting or industry remain for many years. This implies that programmes for recruitment could use the advantages shown in this study for arguments to increase the amount of students who chose the technically oriented educations. The reasons for staying in the professions are: (1) variation and freedom, (2) creativity and influence and (3) you get to work with your hands. This significant content within the technically oriented trades contribute with specific arguments for promotion of the plumbing and industrial work in particular and also for the technical trades and technical education in general.

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Notes

  1. All names in the article are fictitious.

  2. All quotes from the interviews are the author’s translations from Swedish and marked by quotation marks.

  3. The Swedish royal Vasa ship sank in the middle of Stockholm harbor during the maiden voyage in 1628.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Karlstad University, 651 88, Karlstad, Sweden

    Veronica Bjurulf

Authors
  1. Veronica Bjurulf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Veronica Bjurulf.

Appendix

Appendix

Interview questions

  • How long have you been working for this company?

  • How come that you did start working here?

  • What did you do before you came here? (other jobs, education, etc.)

  • What would you work with if you were not working here?

  • What do you like the most about your job?

  • What do you like the least about it?

  • What do you think you will be doing in 5 years? 10 years?

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Bjurulf, V. Reasons for choosing a technically oriented education: an interview study within the fields of pipefitting and industry. Int J Technol Des Educ 22, 377–397 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-010-9141-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-010-9141-5

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