Beyond school inclusion: secondary school and preparing for labour market inclusion for young people with disabilities in Spain

Research analysing good practices in the area of labour market inclusion for people with disabilities shows that the role of the secondary school is fundamental in improving employment opportunities. The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent secondary education in Spain prepares young people with learning difficulties for later inclusion in society and the labour market. Results from studies into good practices in secondary education have established which educational characteristics to take into account for pupils' transition to working life and the need for the school to lead this process. We contrast these results with the current situation in Spain by comprehensively analysing how current secondary education is facing up to the challenges of labour market inclusion for young people with disabilities. Following this, we propose guidelines for the improvement of educational practices in secondary education so as to foster opportunities for labour market participation, from an inclusive viewpoint, for young people with learning disabilities.     

An education policy paradigm that fails upper secondary school pupils

In this article, we illustrate the creation of the education policy paradigm that constitutes the framework of vocational education and training (VET) programmes, and analyse local school representatives’ perception of VET in upper secondary schools in Sweden. The education policy paradigm, established through three periods of reform during the twentieth century, undervalues VET as being less worthy than general/academic education. This paradigm generates the rhetoric used by interviewed school representatives that encourages school pupils to choose the ‘right’ (academic) programmes in order to foster a specific citizenship competence, even if this competence is not fully compatible with labour market demands. Young people who cannot, or will not, attain the ‘right’ education, and thus the advocated citizenship competence, lose out in a school system where general/academic education and higher education preparatory programmes are consistently prioritised over VET. An educational system that advocates discrimination and suspicion of VET limits career options and restricts entry into the labour market, as well as risk stigmatising pupils undertaking VET; this paradigm is neither justified nor democratic.     

Combating low completion rates in Nordic welfare states: policy design in Norway and Sweden

ABSTRACT

Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary education completion rates in Norway and Sweden, often regarded as representing a social democratic welfare model and a universalistic transition regime. The analysis demonstrates that although this issue has received extensive political attention, the two countries display somewhat different policy designs. The Norwegian approach is proactive and targeted while the Swedish policy is more general and directed towards reforming organisational structures in upper-secondary education. In sum, our analysis demonstrates that national governance structures shape and influence policy design in the context of an increasingly diversified Nordic social democratic welfare state regime.     

The impact of learning difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems on transition to postsecondary education or work life in Finland: a five-year follow-up study

Learning difficulties have been found to dilute the possibilities that young adults have in their educational careers. However, during the last few decades, education has become increasingly important for employment and overall life satisfaction. In the present study, we were interested in the effects of mathematical and reading difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems (measured at age 16) on three educational situations at age 21: delayed graduation from upper secondary education, short educational trajectory and not being engaged in education, employment or training (NEET). The participants (N = 597; 304 females, 293 males) were one age cohort of ninth graders in general education classes, who were followed for five years after completion of compulsory education. This time frame included two different transition phases: first, from comprehensive education to upper secondary education, and second, from upper secondary education to further studies or to working life. Structural equation modelling was used as analysis method. The findings show that mathematical and reading difficulties as well as socioemotional and behavioural problems had significant long-term effects on the participants’ educational careers. New in part was that these learning difficulties seemed to have somewhat divergent emphases on the three investigated life situations: (1) mathematical difficulties, more strongly than reading difficulties, caused the students to attain lower levels of education, (2) mathematical difficulties and socioemotional problems predicted a student ending up in the NEET group and (3) reading difficulties and behavioural problems predicted delayed graduation from upper secondary education.     

Learning to adapt: does returning to education improve labour market outcomes?

The transition into a post-industrial economy changed the nature of the Australian labour market extinguishing jobs in traditional industries and creating jobs in new industries. Workers displaced from the manufacturing sector and women seeking to re-enter the labour market after taking time out for family reasons need to retrain in order to secure full-time employment in new industries. Consequently, returning to education is a relatively common occurrence in Australia as adults adapt to the changing demands of the labour market. Using the first 12 waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data, this paper examines the characteristics of those who return to education and gain new educational qualifications. The effect of upgrading educational qualifications on employment outcomes is also examined. The results show that those with higher levels of education were more likely than those with low levels of education to complete new qualifications after the age of 25 and that employment outcomes vary according to level of qualification completed.     

Equity in higher education and graduate labour market outcomes in Australia

The rate of higher education participation in Australia has increased over the past decade for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study contributes to the knowledge on the outcomes of disadvantaged individuals who complete higher education by looking at the labour market outcomes of university graduates from equity groups. The number of Indigenous graduates and graduates with disabilities was found to be very low, suggesting that more needs to be done to improve higher education completion for these two groups. The labour market outcomes for other equity groups are mixed, with those from low socio-economic status backgrounds and regional and remote Australia performing well in the labour market, while graduates from non-English-speaking backgrounds and female graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields experience substantial disadvantage in the labour market. The findings suggest that selection processes prior to the graduates’ entry into the labour market are important.     

The demand for higher education: A static structural approach accounting for individual heterogeneity and nesting patterns

In this paper we estimate a structural model of higher education participation and labour choices in a static setting that accounts for individual heterogeneity and possible nesting structures in the decision process. We assume that young people that complete upper secondary education are faced with three choices, go to higher education, not go to higher education or go to higher education and work part time. We model this choice using Irish data incorporating variation in costs (direct and indirect), the estimated lifecycle returns and household credit constraints. Using a mixed nested logit choice model we find that simulated lifecycle earnings and a choice-specific household income variable impact the educational/labour choices of young people. We also find evidence that preference for choices with higher simulated lifecycle earnings and household income vary significantly across individuals. Policy simulations undertaken find that varying student financial aid can lead to increases in higher education participation.     

Is It worth Being ‘Traditional’ in An Era of Mass Individualization?

This article deals with the question of how the segmentation of higher education participation connects with the segmentation of the graduate labour market into jobs with different levels of quality. With data comprising educational and labour market histories of graduates with Master's degree from nine European countries, the author analyses how graduates with traditional higher education careers come off on the European labour market compared to those with non‐traditional educational careers. When examining the quality of the employment that graduates obtain early on in their career, three criteria are applicable: the job stability and the quality of the education‐job match to both the level of their studies and skills. The method used in the analysis is logistic regression. Results indicate that being a traditional/non‐traditional graduate does affect the odds of finding proper employment; however, whether the influence is positive or negative greatly varies with respect to gender; the number of graduates with the same type of educational career on the local market and the criteria used to evaluate the adequacy of the employment.     

Young people,education and hope: bringing VET in from the margins

Vocational Education and Training (VET) plays an important role in the reshaping of upper secondary school curriculum. Retention to the end of secondary education in Australia went from 35% in 1980 to 72% in 2000. This increase caused major problems for the senior school curriculum which historically prepared students for university entrance but now has to serve multiple purposes. While the purposes of VET suit different groups, our interest is those students alienated from, reluctant to complete, or attempting re-entry into senior secondary education. Our objective is to understand policy reforms in this area, in order to assist stopping the spiral of disadvantage in which these young people are caught. We shall argue that VET has the potential to re-engage young people with education. With the labour market becoming more knowledge-based, such re-engagement becomes increasingly important. We ask to what extent is the post-compulsory curriculum serving student and family ambitions for employment in a way that is equitable and inclusive?     

Lifelong learning and the continued participation of older Norwegian adults in employment

The number of people aged 60 and over across the globe is expected to double by 2050, reaching a share of more than 20 percent of the population total. Governments are therefore taking more and more policy actions to encourage ageing workers to extend their working lives and their employers to retain them. According to the OECD lifelong learning opportunities and inclusive labour markets will be essential to ensuring that workers of all educational backgrounds have the possibility of extending their working lives. This article examines the relationship between adult education completed after age 40 and the subsequent active participation of older adults in employment, using individual register data from Statistics Norway. The results show a substantial effect of upgrading formal education on subsequent labour market participation. Overall effects are quite similar for males and females. Attaining a lower level tertiary degree has the largest impact on labour market participation both for males and females. Completing a secondary education has a strong, long term impact among males. The results suggest that facilitating access to formal education among older workers may be an important contribution to extending working lives.     

Gendered distribution of ‘knowledge required for empowerment’ in Swedish vocational education curricula?

Sweden is internationally commended for a high degree of gender equality, but many divisions in Swedish society, including the labour market, disadvantage women. This paper addresses gendered divisions of preparation for civic participation in the vocational upper secondary national curricula, which may participate in reproduction of the pattern. In a comparative analysis of the curriculum guidelines for different vocational upper secondary programmes, we focus on the inclusion of important knowledge for empowerment and how knowledge is contextualised in terms of valued labour positions. We deploy Bernstein’s concepts of horizontal and vertical discourse and Connell’s concepts of production, consumption and gendered accumulation. A general finding is that vertical discourse is contextualised towards discourses of consumption in girl-dominated programmes and towards discourses of production in boy-dominated programmes. Boy-dominated programmes include more knowledge that can be clearly classified in recognised disciplines or fields, whereas girl-dominated programmes include courses of undefined knowledge, such as creativity and entrepreneurship. We conclude that the vocational curricula reinforce rather than challenge existing gender structures in the labour market and wider society. In a historical perspective, it can be concluded that Swedish vocational education policy has a continuum of ‘gender-blindness', and thus confirming with wider norms.     

The impact of dual apprenticeship programmes on early labour market outcomes: A dynamic approach

This study examines the impact of enrolling into dual apprenticeship programmes during secondary education on six early employment outcomes. Our contribution to the literature is threefold. First, we apply a method that has rarely been used in this literature to control for potential selection biases. Second, this method allows us to distinguish between the programmes’ direct effect (conditional on educational achievement) and indirect effect (via educational achievement) on labour market outcomes. Third, we examine the impact of two distinct dual apprenticeship programmes in a novel setting: Flanders (Belgium). We find evidence for short-term labour market advantages only for the programme with the most days of on-the-job training, which fade out quickly over time.     

教育投资效率浅议

大力发展教育 ,不能忽视教育投资效率。现有的教育机构利用率低 ,教育设置与实际需要脱节 ,劳动力市场反映的“知识失业”说明教育过度 ,以及形式多样的智力外流 ,应成为我们急切关注的问题。需要及时调整教育投资的结构 ,把重点放在提高全民文化素质和劳动技能的基础教育上 ,适当控制高等教育的膨胀发展 ;适应不同人才的社会需求 ,深入改革教学内容 ;完善政策 ,留住人才 ,减少“知识失业” ,确保教育投资回报     

Safety in stereotypes? The impact of gender and ‘race’ on young people's perceptions of their post‐compulsory education and labour market opportunities

This article examines the impact of gender and ‘race’ on young people's perceptions of the educational and labour market opportunities available to them after they complete their compulsory schooling in England. Its findings are based on a study of the views of girls and boys about the government‐supported ‘Apprenticeships’ programme, which, because it reflects labour market conditions, is highly gendered and also segregated by ethnicity. The research shows that young people receive very little practical information and guidance about the consequences of pursuing particular occupational pathways, and are not engaged in any formal opportunities to debate gender and ethnic stereotyping as related to the labour market. This is particularly worrying for females, who populate apprenticeships in sectors with lower completion rates and levels of pay, and which create less opportunity for progression. In addition, the research reveals that young people from non‐White backgrounds are more reliant on ‘official’ sources of guidance (as opposed to friends and families) for their labour market knowledge. The article argues that, because good‐quality apprenticeships can provide a strong platform for lifelong learning and career progression, young people need much more detailed information about how to compare a work‐based pathway with full‐time education. At the same time, they also need to understand that apprenticeships (and jobs more generally) in some sectors may result in very limited opportunities for career advancement.     

Should we sort it out later? The effect of tracking age on long-run outcomes

This study estimates the long-run effect of the school tracking age on educational attainment and labour market outcomes. We exploit within-country variation in tracking ages for students in the highest two tracks in the Netherlands, using the supply of early tracking schools at the municipal level as an instrument for early tracking (tracking at age 12–13 vs. age 14). Combining several data sources, we find that early tracking leads to a decrease in higher education completion, and that it lowers earnings for both low-ability and medium-ability students in the sample. Estimates for high-ability students are positive but imprecisely estimated. The negative effects appear largely driven by higher misallocation of students to tracks when they are sorted early. Robustness analyses strongly suggest that the results are not driven by sorting between municipalities.     

Die Öffnung des Schulsystems: Fakt oder Fiktion?

Opening up educational paths and especially decoupling educational courses and final school qualifications are seen as important aspects of the modernization of Swiss education. The study presented here investigates to what extent this de-linking actually took place in the case of the Swiss canton Freiburg. 525 pupils from German-speaking schools were observed in their progress from the end of primary school (year 6) to the transfer into the upper secondary level Gymnasium (year 10) or into alternative educational routes. Indeed, almost half of the young people, who went to the Gymnasium, previously studied at a middle-level general secondary school and not the preparatory Progymnasium; a strong indication of decoupling. Furthermore, the study shows that entry into the upper secondary level Gymnasium is still possible for pupils despite weak performance at primary level. Irrespective of the evidence for an opening of the education system, the findings also show that attending a Progymnasium has a significant effect on school biographies. The chance of transferring into the upper secondary level Gymnasium is twice as high for graduates, who attended a Progymnasium, as for comparative pupils, who did not. Additionally, a privileged social background correlates with a high chance of entry into the upper secondary level Gymnasium.     

Vocational education and the binary higher education system in the Netherlands: higher education symbiosis or vocational education dichotomy?

The Netherlands has a binary higher education system in which academic education and higher professional education at EQF levels 5–8 co-exist. There is also secondary vocational education at EQF levels 1 up to 4. In this paper, I analyse policy documents resulting from the Bologna Process and argue that under neo-liberal conditions, higher professional education brings opportunities for both students and employers, but also creates a socio-economic tension in terms of employability. The gap between higher professional education and secondary vocational education adds to the formation of a labour market in which higher professional education graduates are prepared to an international labour market but employability pressure is being put on lower skilled employees, creating unequal employability opportunities for vocational education graduates.     

Misalignment between post-secondary education demand and labour market supply: Preliminary insight from young adults on the evolving school to work transition

Most research on labour market outcomes and higher education finds a positive relationship. This qualitative research sought to better understand how higher educational attainment contributes to employment outcomes from a subsample (n = 15) of a larger study (N = 36) on youth labour market attachment among minority, low socioeconomic status young adults. Respondents described: (1) Employment opportunities not being aligned to the educational background of some young adults; and (2) there were no direct links between educational institutions and the labour market in supporting successful employment. These findings suggest a misalignment between educational demand and labour market supply.     

‘The degree is not enough’: students’ perceptions of the role of higher education credentials for graduate work and employability

The UK Government is calling upon higher education students to see their learning as an investment that will give them direct benefits in the labour market. At the same time, the relationship between educational credentials and their returns in labour market has been changing in recent times. Based on a qualitative study with 53 final‐year undergraduate students in a pre‐1992 university, this article examines the way higher education students understand the role of their educational credentials in relation to their future employability. It shows that students perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes in what is perceived to be a congested and competitive graduate labour market. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market.