scholarly journals Higher education decisions and macroeconomic conditions at age eighteen

SERIEs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Graves ◽  
Zoë Kuehn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Time To Degree ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Parental Background ◽  
Education Decisions ◽  
Economic Downturns

AbstractUsing individual data from PIAAC and data on youth unemployment for 18 countries, we test how macroeconomic conditions experienced at age eighteen affect the following decisions in post-secondary and tertiary education: (i) enrollment (ii) dropping-out, (iii) type of degree completed, (iv) area of specialization, and (v) time-to-degree. We also analyze how the effects vary by gender and parental background. Our findings differ across geographies (Anglo-Saxon, Southern European, Western European, and Scandinavian countries), which shows that the impacts of macroeconomic conditions on higher education decisions depend on context, such as labor markets and education systems. By analyzing various components of higher education together, we are able to obtain a clearer picture of how during economic downturns potential mechanisms interact to determine higher education decisions.

scholarly journals HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE GROWTH OF MENIAL JOBS

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-20
Author(s):  
Łukasz Albański
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Iron Cage ◽  
Graduate Unemployment ◽  
Almost All ◽  
University Degree

Young people are confronting a world in which they may not achieve economic strides their parents did. Almost all will have been awarded university degree, worth far less (in the terms and conditions of their employment) than that of their parents, if they themselves graduated from university. In the article the author discusses the relationship between higher education and stratification. The concepts of meritocracy and credentialism are considered and a particular attention is paid to an equal/unequal access to education dilemma. Discussed is why a liberal arts education is losing ground and why it is being made a scapegoat for graduate unemployment. Does the nightmare of Weber’s “iron cage of rationalization” come true and is the contemporary university in the service of an economic order with all the related technical requirements of machine production? In the second part of the article the role of meritocratic discourse and educational credential inflation is considered as well as the growth of menial jobs for young people as a case in Poland. Key words: education at post-secondary level, liberal arts, youth unemployment, inequality, Poland.

scholarly journals Encouraged or Discouraged? The Effect of Adverse Macroeconomic Conditions on School Leaving and Reentry

2020 ◽  
pp. 003804072096071
Author(s):  
Dirk Witteveen
Keyword(s):  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Enrollment Decisions ◽  
Macroeconomic Conditions ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
Economic Downturns

Existing research generally confirms a countercyclical education enrollment, whereby youths seek shelter in the educational system to avoid hardships in the labor market: the “discouraged worker” thesis. Alternatively, the “encouraged worker” thesis predicts that economic downturns steer individuals away from education because of higher opportunity costs. This study provides a formal test of these opposing theories using data from the United States compared with similar sources from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden. I investigate whether macroeconomic stimuli—including recessions and youth unemployment fluctuations—matter for enrollment decisions. Analyses rely on 10 years of detailed individual-level panel data, consisting of birth cohorts across several decades. Across data sources, results show enrollment persistence in secondary education is stronger in response to economic downturns. These patterns differ sharply for tertiary-enrolled students and those who recently left higher education. Surprisingly, U.S. youths display an increased hazard of school leaving and a decreased hazard of educational reenrollment in response to adverse conditions. In contrast, European youths tend to make enrollment decisions supportive of discouraged-worker mechanisms or insensitivity to adverse conditions. The U.S.-specific encouraged-worker mechanism might be explained by the relative importance of market forces in one’s early career and the high costs of university attendance, which induces risk aversion with regard to educational investment. The discussion addresses the consequences for educational inequality.

scholarly journals Structural Factors Associated with Higher Education Access for First-Generation Refugees in Canada: An Agenda for Research

Refuge ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha K. Ferede
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Academic Preparedness ◽  
Higher Education Access ◽  
Education Access ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Factors Associated

Refugees are the least educated migrants upon arrival to Canada. Yet, they invest in Canadian higher education at lower rates than other newcomers. Why might this be? This paper enters this emergent conversation through a review of the Canadian-based empirical literature on the structural factors associated with refugees’ tertiary education access. Research indicates that as part of the low-income population, refugees are likely to misperceive the cost and benefits of higher education and be deterred by high tuition costs. Academic preparedness and tracking in high schools also pose additional constraints. The gap in the literature exposes a need for inquiry into the ways in which pre-arrival experiences influence refugees’ participation in Canada’s post-secondary institutions. The paper concludes by underscoring the need for qualitative research that discerns the lived experiences of refugees outside of the aggregate immigrant grouping typical in education research.

Higher education for happiness? Investigating the impact of education on the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being of Europeans

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Jongbloed
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Post Secondary Education ◽  
Single Item ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the impact of post-secondary education on the well-being of Europeans, comparing single-item hedonic and multi-dimensional eudaimonic models of well-being, operationalized as ‘satisfaction with life’ (SWL) and ‘flourishing’. The results indicate that the impact of education varies significantly when well-being is defined from each of these two perspectives: although vocational education is not significantly associated with the SWL of women and men, it is significantly associated with the extent to which both men and women are flourishing in their lives. Tertiary education is significant across all models for both SWL and flourishing. This study highlights the importance of comprehensive conceptualizations and measurements of well-being in European educational research and public policy.

scholarly journals Higher Education Curriculum and the Capability and Functioning of Young People in Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
David O. Akeju
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Higher Education Curriculum ◽  
Poor State ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Higher Institutions

The demand for higher education among young people has resulted in the huge number of candidates seeking enrollment into higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. The population has consistently increased without a corresponding expansion in educational infrastructure and adjustment in curriculum. Drawing from Amartya Sen’s theory of capabilities and functioning, this paper argues that the population of young people with tertiary education represents a cohort whose capabilities and functioning are at variance with local development needs. The paper further expands the argument by asserting that tertiary educational curriculum, in its current state, is shallow and is a major contributor to the poor state of enrollment for tertiary education and the poor state of youth unemployment in the country. It recommends a re-structuring of the tertiary education system and adjustment to curriculum to meet local industrial demand.

Inequalities in Access to and Outcomes of Higher Education in Africa

2022 ◽  
pp. 150-169
Author(s):  
Roy Alexander Carr-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
The West ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Parental Background ◽  
Economic Background ◽  
Upper Middle Class ◽  
Employment Needs ◽  
Education In Africa

There have been very few studies of the socio-economic background and outcomes for students in Africa because of the lack of data. This chapter draws on an institute which has information about their parental background and subsequent careers collected from surveys. In terms of access, the combination of parents not having more than primary education, renting and not owning land identified less than 1% of students whilst the percentage of entrants reporting that their parents had a post-secondary qualification is considerably higher (around 57%) than the norm at the time the parents would have been studying (around 7%). These students were upper middle class. In terms of outcomes, both current students and alumni say that the curriculum only partly fits their employment needs, but 85% of alumni would recommend AIMS to other students. In general, employers are satisfied with AIMS interns, but the percentage of AIMS graduates who are unemployed has risen from 2% in 2011 to 29% in 2016. Finally, rather than contributing to Africa, over one-third of graduates since 2012 are in the West.

From Scarcity to Abundance: Achieving Quality-Assured Mass Higher Education

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Secondary System ◽  
Mass Higher Education ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One

The United States is in a bind. On the one hand, we need millions of additional citizens with at least one year of successful post-secondary experience to adapt to the knowledge economy. Both the Gates and Lumina Foundations, and our President, have championed this goal in different ways. On the other hand, we have a post-secondary system that is trapped between rising costs and stagnant effectiveness, seemingly unable to respond effectively to this challenge. This paper analyzes several aspects of this problem, describes changes in the society that create the basis for solutions, and offers several examples from Kaplan University of emerging practice that suggests what good practice might look like in a world where quality-assured mass higher education is the norm.

AN INDUCTIVELY DERIVED RESEARCH FRAMEWORK FOR STUDENT SATISFACTION IN ODL: THE HIGHER EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-57
Author(s):  
Marry Mdakane ◽  
Christo J. Els ◽  
A. Seugnet Blignaut
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Specific Aspect ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Research Framework ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Education Environment

Student satisfaction, as a key psychological-affective outcome of tertiary education, is a direct measure of the success of Open Distance Learning (ODL). It is therefore vital for ODL Higher Education Institutions to assess and improve student satisfaction constantly. Existing theories on student satisfaction are mostly derived from deductive research, i.e. from research that considers the existing body of knowledge, followed by an investigation of a specific aspect or component, in order to reach a specific conclusion. We, however, maintain the inductive stance that a research framework for student satisfaction in ODL should be derived from students themselves. Accordingly, we purposively collected qualitative data from N=34 South African postgraduate ODL students, representative of various cultural language groups, with regard to student satisfaction. Supported by Atlas.ti, we composed an integrated dataset comprised of students’ responses to two focus-group interviews, as well as students’ written narratives in response to qualitative questions. Through meticulous qualitative data-analysis, we detected data categories, sub-categories, patterns and regularities in the integrated dataset. Theories and findings from the existing corpus of knowledge pertaining to student satisfaction in ODL illuminated our qualitative findings. This paper reports on the knowledge we gained from our participants pertaining to their student satisfaction with the Higher Education (HE) environment, the first of three main research components of an inductively derived research framework for student satisfaction in ODL.

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