The article examines the effects of social background, gender and immigrant background on the attainment of competence in vocational upper secondary education. The analyses indicate that the mechanisms causing differences elsewhere in the educational system also seem to be present in the vocational branches of Norwegian upper secondary education. Groups that are performing well at other levels and branches of the educational system (e.g. students with highly educated parents) are those most likely to complete upper secondary vocational education. We find that students tend to choose similar educational fields as their parents. Vocational competence obtained through an apprenticeship is most common among students whose parents have a vocational education, whereas those whose parents have a higher education more often obtain qualifications for higher education. Girls aim for qualifications in higher education or school-based vocational competence, while boys obtain vocational competence through an apprenticeship or end up without obtaining competence. The gender differences are particularly noticeable in some immigrant groups, with girls from Pakistan, Turkey, Somalia and the rest of Africa highly overrepresented in the group that obtain school-based vocational competence. © UNIVERSITETSFORLAGET.
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