Adult Vocational Qualifications Reduce the Social Gradient in Education

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13054707
AutoresBernt Bratsberg (0000-0002-6874-3412, Statistics Norway, autor de correspondencia), Torgeir Nyen (0000-0003-3606-018X, Fafo Foundation), Oddbjørn Raaum (Statistics Norway)
Año2019
Volumen7
Número3
Páginas95-109
Fecha de publicación2019-09-05
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Inclusion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2183-2803 • E-ISSN: 2183-2803
EditorialCogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT)
DOI10.17645/si.v7i3.2026
OpenAlexW2971512676
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas10

Many youth leave school early without an upper secondary education, impeding their chances in the labor market. Early school leavers come disproportionately from families with low parental education. In some countries, there are alternative routes to upper secondary qualifications as adults. Does adult attainment reduce initial social differences in educational attainment, or does it reinforce such differences? Norway is one of the countries where many attain upper secondary qualifications in adulthood. Using individual data from administrative registers, we follow five Norwegian birth cohorts (1973–1977) from age 20 to 40. We document that the association between parental education and upper secondary completion declines monotonically with age, ending at age 40 about 35% below that at age 20. We also document that the alternative routes to adult qualifications recruit students of different family backgrounds. In particular, adults who acquire vocational qualifications via the experience-based route come from families with lower education than other groups. Our evidence suggests that institutions that offer opportunities for certifying qualifications acquired at work mitigate social gradients, fostering more equal opportunities within the education system

Adult education · Demographic economics · Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Norwegian · Pedagogy · Vocational education · Young adult · Education Systems and Policy · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics