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Describe the German apprenticeship systemÂ
- roots go back to the guild system of the Middle Ages
- spread nation wide during Germany's trained labor shortage after WWII
- heavy emphasis on "on-the-job" training, simmilar to that in Japan
- about 70% of german teenagers receive training in apprenticeship system
- close to 400 different occupations
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German apprenticeship system (part 2)
- males receive training in manufacturing
- females tend to be trained for sales, clerical and health care positions
- apprentices go to work for 3 weeks, then vocational school for 2 weeks
- 2-3 years of training
- hard to change once you have started
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Benefits to apprenticeship system
- teen unemployment is low
- creates a highly skilled workforce
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Problems with apprenticeship system
- expensive
- sexism
- ethnic problems (problems getting those from immigrant families involved in program)
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Why is it more difficult for the U.S. to have an apprenticeship system?
- the expense
- high danger in the US that workers will leave for other companies after being trained
- students are reluctant to participate in vocational opportunities (blue collar workers are not as socially respected in the US)
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