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This dissertation includes an introduction and five empirical papers focusing on the educational and career decision-making process of individuals in Germany. The five papers embrace different determinants of educational and career decisions including school performance, social background, leisure activities as well as professional expectations, and contribute to the existing literature in this research area. Chapter 2 of this dissertation (written jointly with Christian Pfeifer) begins by analysing the nexus between students’ time allocation and school performance in terms of grades and satisfaction with their own performance in mathematics, the German language and a first foreign language, as well as overall achievement. While previous studies have primarily focused on isolated activities, this chapter looks at the heterogeneity of three important extracurricular activities: student jobs, sports and participation in music. Moreover, the heterogeneity of each activity is addressed by accounting for different types of the particular activity and differences in the number of years the activity has been pursued. For this purpose, data from the German SOEP, as a representative panel survey of private households and people in Germany, in particular cross-sectional survey data of 3388 students who are about 17 years old and enrolled in a German secondary school, were used. The main findings are that having a job as a student is negatively correlated with school performance, whereas participation in sports and music is positively correlated. However, the results reveal heterogeneity in each activity, especially with respect to intensity. Chapter 3 addresses the concrete post-school decision of school students, in particular whether to study or to enter the German VET system. It focuses on individual risk preferences and the social background of individuals and how these determinants affect the ultimate decision to enrol in university or to start an apprenticeship given the same level of qualification. For the empirical approach data from the German SOEP were used, in particular information on individuals’ educational decisions between 2007 and 2013. The results indicate that (i) individual risk preferences do not have an overall effect on the real transition; (ii) privileged individuals are more likely to take up higher education; and (iii) compared to highly educated parents, parents without an academic background are less likely to guide their children into tertiary education, regardless of how much they support their children with their school work. Chapter 4 deals with the reconsideration of educational decisions in terms of early contract cancellations in VET (Vocational Education and Training). In particular, the effects of a second job on the intention to cancel a VET contract early are analysed for apprentices in Germany. To date, the literature in this research area mainly focuses on income as a determinant of early contract cancellation in VET, but is lacking in investigations of the consequences of low income during an apprenticeship, such as the need for a second job. For the empirical approach the representative German firm-level study ‘BIBB Survey Vocational Training from the Trainee’s Point of View 2008’, conducted by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), is used. The survey contains 5901 apprentices that were interviewed during their second year of apprenticeship (205 schools, 340 classes, and 15 common occupations). Furthermore, it includes the design, procedures, basic conditions, and quality criteria of apprenticeships. The applied probit regressions show a higher intention to quit if apprentices require a secondary job to cover their living costs. In Chapter 5, new data on 191 apprentices from a vocational school, located in a northern German federal state, are used to validate the empirical results of Chapter 4. This chapter presents new insights into secondary-job-related burdens during apprenticeship. Due to limitations in the data, the applied empirical approach in Chapter 4 lacks to analyse how holding multiple jobs increases the intention to leave an apprenticeship early. Therefore, Chapter 5 includes the investigations of burdens related to the second job. The results indicate a lower intention to quit the apprenticeship if an apprentice holds a second job to cover living costs. However, secondary jobs are linked to lower quality of training, which, on the other hand, increases the intention to leave the apprenticeship early. Furthermore, the probability of secondary-job-related burdens increases with the number of working hours. Chapter 6 concludes the thesis by investigating subjective determinants of early contract cancellations in VET. It examines ten questions on what apprentices want to achieve and how unfulfilled expectations affect the intention to leave the apprenticeship early. To date, research on early contract cancellation in VET has concentrated on objective determinants, such as income, schooling level, age, gender, or migration background. Hence, the findings of this investigation contributes to the existing research on early contract cancellation. The questions considered include information on the performance, personal development, career development and prospects or position in society and their meaning to apprentices. For the research approach, the ‘BIBB Survey Vocational Training from the Trainee’s Point of View 2008’ is considered again. The probit and ordered probit regressions applied show significant effects of job characteristics that represent job security. The expectation of being retained after an apprenticeship and the encouragement to consistently train further decrease the intention to leave the apprenticeship early. Furthermore, women appear to be more affected by job security signals than men, but they also sort more often into occupations with lower retention probabilities. Consequently, this result may be an indication of occupational segregation rather than a sign of differences between sexes.

Die Protestlandschaft in Deutschland hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten stark verändert und ihre Methoden vervielfältigt, beispielsweise im Zuge der Anti-Atombewegung. Anlass für Proteste geben zumeist als ungerecht empfundene wirtschaftliche, politische oder gesellschaftliche Zustände, oft verbunden mit Zweifeln an der Legitimität von Regierungsentscheidungen. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Protestform des zivilen Ungehorsams in einer Demokratie, über deren Legitimität ein breit gefächerter Diskurs geführt wird. Manche Stimmen in der öffentlichen Diskussion vertreten die Position, ziviler Ungehorsam sei widerrechtlich und gefährde die Demokratie (Laschet 2018; RWE Power AG 28.10.2018). Sie argumentieren, dass die BürgerInnen den Problemlösungsprozess der demokratisch gewählten Regierung überlassen sollten, die sie bei Unzufriedenheit abwählen könnten. VerfechterInnen des zivilen Ungehorsams argumentieren dagegen, dass eine Demokratie nur funktionieren könne, wenn die BürgerInnen ausreichend Gelegenheiten zur Partizipation hätten und das Regierungshandeln hinreichend legitimiert sei. Wenn diese Voraussetzungen nicht erfüllt seien, sei ziviler Ungehorsam auch in einer Demokratie berechtigt, um in einer Notsituation die Gegebenheiten zu korrigieren und auf diese Weise für die Erhaltung der demokratischen Staatsform einzutreten (vgl. Kapitel 3). Nach dieser Argumentation wäre ziviler Ungehorsam somit ein aus der Not geborenes Korrektiv gegen staatliches Unrecht. Für diesen Sachverhalt wird hier der Neologismus „Notkorrektiv“ eingeführt. Ziviler Ungehorsam hat sowohl historische als auch aktuelle Relevanz. Laut Martin Luther King Jr. ist beispielsweise die Boston Tea Party einer der bekanntesten und ältesten Akte des zivilen Ungehorsams (King Jr. 1963: 4). Als eines der aktuellsten Beispiele in Deutschland sind die Aktionstage des Bündnisses ‚Ende Gelände‘ am Rheinischen Braunkohlerevier im Herbst 2018 aufzuführen.