CASMIN educational classification.
Walter Müller
The CASMIN educational classification is based upon two primary classification criteria: 1) the differentiation of a hierarchy of educational levels, both in terms of the length of the educational experience as well as in the required intellectual abilities and corresponding curricular contents, and 2) the differentiation between "general" and "vocationally-oriented" education. In terms of levels of education, the schema distinguishes between (1) the elementary, (2 ) secondary, and (3) higher (tertiary) level of education according to the length of educational experiences, the required intellectual abilities and the value of the educational certificate achieved. The vocationally oriented qualifications are differentiated according to whether the programs intend to teach general knowledge or practical knowledge and skills for specific occupations.
The CASMIN educational classification was developed for data relating to the period up to the end of the 1970s. Therefore the original coding schema does not capture the changes that took place in national education systems over the last three decades. For contemporary comparative research, recent developments should be taken into account. They particularly include various forms of vocational qualification as well as institutional diversification at the higher range of secondary education, in particular in countries where the education system was subject to massive institutional reform and quantitative expansion.
Hildegard Brauns and Susanne Steinmann (1999) provide a detailed account how this might be done for three countries: France, Germany and the UK. They provide a review of the historical background and major recent developments in the educational systems in each of these countries. In order to take into account educational expansion and the growing numbers of holders of full secondary and tertiary qualifications, they basically propose a more differentiated coding at these higher levels of education. Relying on the original ideas, on which the schema is built, they propose to apply the distinction between general qualifications and qualifications with vocational emphasis (so far only made on the elementary and on the intermediate secondary level) also on the level of full secondary education (with maturity certificates and admission to university studies). [A similar distinction might also be pursued on the level of lower tertiary degrees; however , I suggest not to follow this latter suggestion in our project. It might be too difficult to obtain a comparable coding without investing a lot of work]. What is new, is thus the distinction between 2c_gen and 2c_voc.
A description of the categories to be used in the mobility project is given in table 1. The tables 2a, 3a and 4a contain suggestions how the coding might be done in practice for France, Germany and the UK ,as suggested by Brauns/Steinmann (1999). For the French case, I suggest that 3a_voc and 3a_gen are collapsed to 3a and that 3b_low and 3b_high are collapsed to 3b.
The first publication of the Casmin educational classification is Müller et al. 1989; its most extensive presentation is in König/Lüttinger/Müller (1988); a discussion comparing CASMIN to other classifications is given in Braun/Müller 1997 and in Kerckhoff (1999).
References:
Braun, Michael and Walter Müller (1997) Measurement of Education in Comparative Research. Comparative Social Research 16: 163-201.
Brauns, Hildegard and Susanne Steinmann (1999) Educational Reform in France, West-Germany, the United Kingdom and Hungary. Updating the CASMIN Educational Classification. ZUMA-Nachrichten 23: 7-44. This paper can be downloaded from:
http://www.zuma-mannheim.de/publications/periodicals/zuma-nachrichten/zuna-44.htm
Kerckhoff, Alan C. (1999) Paper given at the 1999 Madison RC28 meeting. (I do not have the title at hand)
König, Wolfgang, Lüttinger Paul and Walter Müller (1988) A Comparative Analysis of the Development and Structure of Educational Systems. Methodological Foundations and the Construction of a Comparative Educational Scale. CASMIN Working Paper No. 12. Mannheim: Universität Mannheim.
Müller, Walter, Lüttinger, Paul, König, Wolfgang and Wolfgang Karle (1989) Class and Education in Industrial Nations. International Journal of Sociology 19: 3-39.
Table 1: The CASMIN educational classification as proposed for the mobility project.
|
Qualification |
Description |
|
1a* |
Inadequately completed elementary education |
|
1b* |
Completed (compulsory) elementary education , corresponding to the "social minimum" of education that individuals are expected to have obtained in a society. This level of education is mostly of a general nature and generally can be obtained by following without selective procedures the least demanding courses of education up until the legally fixed age of compulsory schooling. |
|
1c* |
(Compulsory) elementary education and basic vocational qualification. These are qualifications that go beyond the compulsory minimum and (in what is beyond 1b) provide mainly basic vocational qualifications. |
|
2a* |
Secondary, intermediate vocational qualification or intermediate general qualification and vocational qualification . This category includes all types of programs in which general intermediate schooling is joined by additional vocational training, or in which qualifications of largely practical, vocational components have been obtained that go clearly beyond the basic level. |
|
2b* |
Secondary, intermediate general qualification ; includes educational tracks at the intermediate level that are part of general education or are academically oriented.. |
|
2c_gen* |
Full general maturity certificates ; consists in successful passing those exams that mark the completion of secondary schooling (e. g. the Abitur, Maturity, Baccalaureat, A-level exams), and which are obtained in tracks with a general, academic orientation. |
|
2c_voc* |
Full vocational maturity certificate or general maturity certificate and vocational qualification ; includes either maturity certificates obtained via vocational secondary education (e. g. maturità obtained in istituti tecnici in Italy) or marturity level certificates from general tracks that are supplemented by additional vocational qualifications (e.g. in Germany: passing the Abitur plus completing an apprenticeship). |
|
3a |
Lower tertiary education ; generally characterized by a shorter length of study at the tertiary level and more practically oriented study programs (e. g. technical college diplomas, social worker or, non-university teaching certificates). |
|
3b |
Higher tertiary education ; upper-level tertiary degrees including the successful completion (with examination) of a traditional, academically-oriented university education. |
* The distinction between elementary, intermediate and full secondary education is to be understood in the following way: Full secondary qualifications consist of successful passing of those exams that mark the completion of secondary schooling and in general provide access to tertiary education (the Abitur etc). Intermediate secondary education (2a, 2b) relates to certificates between elementary and full secondary education. In making the distinction between elementary and intermediate secondary education, which in some cases is not clear-cut, essentially all those courses and certificates that clearly go beyond the elementary level are ascribed to the intermediate level, be it through education in selective schools, or the length of education that clearly goes beyond the compulsory years of education, or be it that exams were passed which are clearly above the elementary level.
Table A2: France: logic of the "new" classification - Enquête Emploi 1990s
|
1a |
Inadequately completed general education |
|
|
sans diplôme and drop-out of secondary school before completion of 5ème with or without vocational training (but less than two years of vocational training). |
|
1b |
General elementary education |
|
|
Completion of 5ème secondaire; CEP (Certificat d’Etudes Primaires); DFEO (Diplôme de Fin d’Etudes Obligatoires); CEP (Certificat d’Education Professionnelle); last year CAP (two to three years of vocational training) without completion of vocational diploma and without prior achievement of intermediate general qualification as specified in 2b. |
|
1c |
Basic vocational qualification/general elementary education and vocational qualification |
|
|
CAP(A) (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle (Agricole)) without completion of intermediate general qualification, with or without prior achievement of CEP/DFEO, within full-time schooling or apprenticeship; EFFA (Examen de Fin d’Apprentissage Artisanal); agricultural diplomas (BAA, BPA); other diplomas at level CAP as social and health-professions diplomas without prior achievement of intermediate general or upper secondary qualification as specified in 2b and 2c. |
|
2a |
Intermediate vocational qualification/Intermediate general qualification and vocational qualification |
|
|
BP (Brevet Professionnel); Diplôme de Moniteur-Educateur; Brevet des ENP (Ecole Nationale Professionnelle) or Lycées Techniques d’Etat; BSEC (Brevet Supérieur d’Enseignement Commercial); Capacité en Droit; Brevet de Maîtrise; Diplôme de l’AFPA du 2ème degré; BEA/C/S... (Brevet d’Enseignement Agricole/Commercial/Social...); Brevet d’Agent Technique Agricole; BEP(A) (Brevet d’Etudes Professionnelle (Agricole)), CAP, social or agricultural diplomas (as specified in 1c) following intermediate general qualification (see 2b). |
|
2b |
Intermediate general qualification |
|
|
Completion of 3ème secondaire générale; BEPC (Brevet d’Etudes du Premier Cycle); Brevet des collèges; CFES (Certificat de Fin d’Etudes Secondaires); BE (Brevet Elémentaire); BEPS (Brevet d’Enseignement Primaire Supérieur); completion of 2ième et 1ère without achievement of the maturity certificate as specified in 2c. |
|
2c_gen |
General maturity certificate |
|
|
Baccalauréat général series A to E/L, S, ES; BS (Brevet Supérieur) |
|
2c_voc |
Vocational maturity certificate/General maturity certificate and vocational qualification |
|
|
Baccalauréat de Technicien series F to H; Baccalauréat Technologique; Baccalauréat Professionnel; BT(A) (Brevet de Technicien (Agricole)). |
|
3a_gen |
Lower tertiary education- general diplomas |
|
|
Diplômes universitaires du premier cycle (e.g. propédeutique, DUEL, DUES, DEUG, PCEM (Premier Cycle des Etudes Médicales)). |
|
3a_voc |
Lower tertiary education – diplomas with vocational emphasis |
|
|
DUT (Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie); BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur); Diplôme d’école juridique, commerciale, arts appliqués (also including premier cycle des écoles de notariat, secrétariat de direction, écoles or instituts de technicien supérieur); social and health-professions diplomas (nursing, social work etc.); Certificat d’Aptitude Pédagogique; CFEN (Certificat de Fin d’Etudes Normales) including Diplôme de Maître d’Education Physique, other diplomas at French level "bac+2", i.e. level III according to the official education classification grid with a vocational focus (see section 3.1). |
|
3b_low |
Higher tertiary education (lower level) |
|
|
Diplômes universitaires de deuxième cycle (e.g. Licence, Maîtrise). |
|
3b_high |
Higher tertiary education (higher level) |
|
|
Diplômes universitaires de troisième cycle (e.g. DES, DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies)), Doctorat (including Doctorat en médicine); Diplôme de chirugien-dentiste; CAPES; CAPET; Agrégation; Diplôme Grande Ecole, Ecole d’ingénieur/de commerce etc. |
Table A3: West-Germany, Mikrozensus 1990s
|
1a |
Inadequately completed general education |
|
|
ohne Abschluß, berufliches Praktikum |
|
1b |
General elementary education |
|
|
Haupt-/Volksschulabschluß |
|
1c |
Basic vocational qualification/general elementary education and vocational qualification |
|
|
Haupt-/Volksschulabschluß mit Abschluß einer Lehr-/Anlernausbildung oder Meister-/Technikerausbildung |
|
2a |
Intermediate vocational qualification/Intermediate general qualification and vocational qualification |
|
|
Realschulabschluß (Mittlere Reife) mit Abschluß einer Lehr-/Anlernausbildung oder Meister-/Technikerausbildung |
|
2b |
Intermediate general qualification |
|
|
Realschulabschluß (Mittlere Reife) |
|
2c_gen |
General maturity certificate |
|
|
Fachhochschulreife, Hochschulreife (Abitur) |
|
2c_voc |
Vocational maturity certificate/General maturity certificate and vocational qualification Fachhochschulreife, Hochschulreife (Abitur) mit Abschluß einer Lehr-/Anlernausbildung oder Meister-/Technikerausbildung |
|
3a |
Lower tertiary education |
|
|
Fachhochschule, Ingenieurschule |
|
3b |
Higher tertiary education |
|
|
Hochschule |
Table A4: United Kingdom, Qualification LFS 1990s
|
1a |
Inadequately completed general elementary education |
|
|
None of these |
|
1b |
General elementary education |
|
|
CSE,GCSE,SCE not yet mentioned |
|
1c |
Basic vocational qualification/general elementary education and vocational qualification |
|
|
BTEC,BEC,SCOTBEC,TEC or SCOTEC-SCOTVEC, First certificate or General certificate, YT Certificate (YTP in Northern Ireland), SCOTVEC National Certificate modules, RSA other qualification, City & Guilds other qualification , Any other professional-vocational qualification, GNVQ/GSVQ foundation; NVQ/SVQ Level 1 |
|
2a |
Intermediate vocational qualification/Intermediate general qualification and vocational qualification |
|
|
City and Guilds advanced craft, RSA diploma, City & Guilds craft; BTEC, BEC, SCOTBEC TEC or SCOTEC-SCOTVEC; First diploma or General diploma; GNVQ/GSVQ intermediate; NVQ/SVQ Level 2 (basic etc.) |
|
2b |
Intermediate general qualifications |
|
|
O-level; GCSE grades A,B,C; SCE Standard; grades 1,2,3; SCE Ordinary grades A,B,C; CSE; grade 1 or equivalent CSE,GCSE,SCE |
|
2c_gen |
General maturity certificate |
|
|
A-level or equivalent; Scottish Certificate of 6th year Studies (Scottish CSYS) or equivalent; SCE (Higher) or equivalent; A-S level; Certificate of 6th Year Studies (CSYS) or equivalent |
|
2c_voc |
Vocational maturity certificate/General maturity certificate and vocational qualification |
|
|
RSA Advanced diploma/certificate; BTEC,BEC,SCOTBEC,TEC or SCOTEC-SCOTVEC National-ONC-OND; GNVQGSVQ advanced; NVQ/SVQ Level 3 (Advanced etc.) |
|
3a |
Lower tertiary education |
|
|
HNC-HND, Higher level of BTEC,BEC,SCOTBEC, TEC or SCOTEC-SCOTVEC; Teaching qualification for primary education; Nursing or other medical qualific. not yet mentioned; Other Higher Educ. Qualific. below degree level; RSA higher diploma; NVQ/SVQ level 4 (Higher technician) |
|
3b |
Higher tertiary education |
|
|
Higher degree; First degree; Other degree level qualification such as graduate membership of professional institute; Diplomas in higher education; Teaching qualification for secondary and further Education; NVQ/SVQ level 5 (prof. degree) |