Students’ grit and their post-compulsory educational choices and trajectories: evidence from Switzerland

We examine how the personality trait grit relates to post-compulsory educational choices using survey data linked to register data. Exploiting variation in self-reported grit within a cohort of students finishing compulsory school, we find that higher grit is associated with a higher likelihood of starting a vocational education over general education. This association is robust to cognitive skill measures and other background characteristics. Using novel data on skill requirements of vocational training occupations, we find that grittier vocational education students sort into math-intensive occupations. We find no evidence that grit reduces dropout rates in post-compulsory education.