Abstract

The paper deals with the term and concept of dropouts (›Aussteiger‹) – a highly complex and little investigated phenomenon. Even though the term is often used in everyday language, we do only have a rather vague and ambiguous understanding of the concept behind it. In order to curtail this vagueness and to sharpen the understanding and usability there will not just be an examination of the history of the uses and developments of the term ›Aussteiger‹, but also a proposal of an adequate understanding of the discussed concept. The basic questions for the paper can be summarized as follows: What was the former understanding of ›aussteigen‹ and ›Aussteiger‹? What are we talking about today, when we use the term ›Aussteiger‹? Can we focus on a less vague and more usable definition of the term (especially for the Humanities and the Social Sciences)? And what should be the main features of the concept?