Impact of economic and social change on the educational participation of young people in Basel-City, Fribourg, Lucerne and Neuchâtel 1950-1985

Abstract

This article deals with the educational participation of 15- to 19-year-olds during the period of educational expansion. The authors consider the federal structure of the education system by comparing the four cantons of Basel-Stadt, Fribourg, Lucerne and Neuchâtel. In doing so, they trace the development of the quantitative-statistical distribution of young people in post-compulsory education between 1950 and 1980 and explain it based on economic, social and educational factors. It can be shown that the expansion of education was a highly differentiated development that depended decisively on the cantonal circumstances.