Occupational prestige, the hierarchical perception of occupations, is a neglected issue in studies on vocational education and training, although the attractiveness of apprenticeship programs is strongly affected by their prestige. Based on a qualitative study, this article examines the identity strategies of apprentices whose training programs lack prestige. It understands not only identity but also prestige as dynamically and relationally constructed in everyday life and thus empirically contributes to contemporary theoretical debates about occupational prestige. It compares two occupations – bricklaying, which requires lower/medium skills, and automation technology, which requires higher skills – and shows that both are faced with a lack of prestige, although unequally, thus leading the apprentices to employ different strategies to valorize and engage with the training. These strategies draw on the meaning that the apprentices find in their work, the advanced skills the training requires, the variety of work tasks involved and the career possibilities the occupations provide. The results demonstrate that the apprentices are confronted with a vocational-academic divide that exists in many countries. This divide poses a threat to apprentices’ identities, and their strategies aim to either maintain or reverse it. Although the prestige of apprenticeships is related to objective differences between both educational tracks and occupations, social actors can negotiate superiority and inferiority. Thus, the article also provides some practical recommendations for how apprentices confronted with a lack of social recognition can be encouraged to continue engaging with their training.

中文翻译：

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职业声望对职业身份的挑战：瑞士砌砖和自动化技术学徒的比较

职业声望，即对职业的等级观念，是职业教育和培训研究中被忽视的问题，尽管学徒计划的吸引力在很大程度上受到其声望的影响。在定性研究的基础上，本文研究了培训项目缺乏声望的学徒的身份策略。它不仅了解身份，而且还了解日常生活中动态和相关性构建的声望，因此从经验上有助于当代有关职业声望的理论辩论。它比较了两种职业–砌砖，需要较低/中级的技能，以及自动化技术，需要较高的技能–并表明，尽管不平等，这两种职业都缺乏威望。因此导致学徒采用不同的策略来重视和参与培训。这些策略借鉴了学徒在工作中发现的含义，培训所需的高级技能，涉及的各种工作任务以及职业提供的职业可能性。结果表明，学徒面临着许多国家中存在的职业-学术鸿沟。这种分歧对学徒的身份构成了威胁，他们的策略旨在维持或扭转这种身份。尽管学徒制的声望与教育轨道和职业之间的客观差异有关，但社会行为者可以协商优劣。从而，