Post-dual training transitions in Mexico: apprentices’ strategies during the Covid-19 lockdown

Resumen

The article explores how Covid-19 lockdown in Mexico affected the transitions of apprentices that completed the Mexican Model of Dual Training (MMDT) in 2020. The MMDT is a modality of technical and vocational education that combines work-based and school-based training at upper secondary school. We performed a longitudinal research design consisting of two waves of in-depth interviews with a sample of 52 apprentices in two states of Mexico (Coahuila and State of Mexico). The first wave of interviews took place in 2019 and the second wave in 2020, after apprentices completed the MMDT. Our analysis explores whether apprentices’ aspirations and expectations were fulfilled or how they were readjusted during their transition in times of Covid-19 lockdown. Our results show three main paths of transitions. First, a group of apprentices who settled for a second-best option in order to access HE or the labor market. Second, a group of apprentices with certain economic stability who managed to fulfil their original expectations by adapting and reacting to the circumstances; and third, a group that could afford to wait for (education or labor) opportunities to improve and decided to put their plans on hold. We conclude that the apprentices’ socioeconomic status operated as a key mediating factor that modulated the opportunities and strategies available to these youngsters in their attempt to adapt and adjust their plans according to the circumstance.