Education and skills policies to alleviate inequality

EDUCATION AND SKILLS POLICIES TO ALLEVIATE

INEQUALITY

Dirk Van Damme

OECD/EDU/IMEP

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map

Institutional &

Policy Framew

orks

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map / Q11. What do OECD data tell us about impact of social inequality on learning outcomes and skills?:• Impact of parents’ socio-

economic status on students’ learning outcomes (PISA)

• Impact of parents’ education status on access to tertiary education (PIAAC)

• Impact of parents’ background on adult skills (PIAAC)

• Main findings (OECD countries):– A socio-economically advantaged student scores 39

points higher in math (equivalent of nearly one year of schooling) than less-advantaged student

– Socio-economic status explains on average 14.8% of variance in math performance

– But differences between countries are huge

– PISA data show that there is no trade-off between excellence and equity in students’ learning outcomes

– Between 2003 and 2012 a slight improvement in equity of learning outcomes has been noted

Impact of socio-economic background on students’ learning outcomes in PISA 2012 (math)

Impact of socio-economic background on students’ learning outcomes in PISA 2012

Trends in equity between PISA 2003 and PISA 2012

-20 -10 0 10-4.0

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Change in the percentage of variation in mathematics performance explained by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (2012 - 2003)

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Impact of parents’ education on access to tertiary education (PIAAC data)

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Proportion of young students (20-34 year-olds) in tertiary education whose parents have below upper secondary education

Proportion of parents with below upper secondary education in the total parent population%

Impact of parents’ educational status on skills distribution (numeracy)

105 110 115 120 125 130 135 14020

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

R² = 0.3274934405585

Correlation between inequality in numeracy skills and the impact of parents' education

Score-point difference between the top and the bottom 10% in numeracy proficiency

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Native born only, controlling for age and gender

• Educational inequality (parents’ socio-economic background) has a high impact on outcomes of education and skills

• But the impact is slightly weakening

• The impact is felt throughout the educational life-course, well into access and success in tertiary education

• Impact of social background is related to the width of the distribution of skills

Impact of social inequality on education and skills

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map / Q2

2. What do OECD data tell us about the distribution of education and skills?:• Evolution of the Education Gini• Distribution of educational

attainment• Differential growth rates at top

and bottom of educational attainment

• Distribution of literacy and numeracy in adult population

Education Attainment Gini by region(Wail, Said & Abdelhak, 2011)

Education Attainment Lorenz curves(Wail, Said & Abdelhak, 2011)

Distribution of educational attainment(25-34 year-olds, 2013)Turk

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Spain

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39 39 35 3427 27 23 21 18 18 18 17 16 15 15 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 12 11 11 10 9 9 9 7 6 6 6 6 6 2

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Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiaryTertiary

Differential growth rates at top and bottom of educational attainment (25-64 year-olds, 2000-2013)

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Average annual growth rate below secondary education Average annual growth rate tertiary educationDifference in the extent of both annual growth rates

More inclusive Less inclusive

Inequality indices – Numeracy SkillsCountry CV 90th-10th 90th-50th 50th-10th

Australia 0.21 136.59 62.33 74.26Austria 0.18 121.24 55.95 65.30Canada 0.21 138.28 62.61 75.67Czech Republic 0.16 110.94 50.90 60.03Denmark 0.18 126.10 57.47 68.63Estonia 0.17 113.92 53.46 60.45Finland 0.18 127.65 59.21 68.44France 0.22 141.80 62.39 79.41Germany 0.20 133.09 59.10 73.99Ireland 0.21 129.33 59.28 70.05Italy 0.20 126.26 59.87 66.39Japan 0.15 110.05 50.89 59.17Korea 0.17 114.60 51.31 63.29Netherlands 0.18 125.11 53.97 71.14Norway 0.19 131.77 57.90 73.88Poland 0.20 127.86 59.20 68.66Slovak Republic 0.17 117.16 51.03 66.12Spain 0.21 129.61 57.08 72.53Sweden 0.20 132.84 58.74 74.10United States 0.23 144.84 66.66 78.18Flanders (Belgium) 0.18 127.84 57.13 70.71England/N. Ireland (UK) 0.21 137.71 64.38 73.33OECD Average 0.20 130.99 59.20 71.79

Distribution in numeracy skills among adults (PIAAC)

Distribution of Numeracy Proficiency0

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2.0

04

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0 100 200 300 400 500

United States Czech RepublicFrance JapanOECD Average

FRANCEJAPAN

Skill Inequality Declines with Education

Skill Dispersion Increases with Age

• Generally, educational inequality has diminished over the past half century

• But many countries have a heavily polarized educational attainment structure

• In some countries expansion of education made the educational attainment structure more inclusive, while in others inequality increased

• Countries differ very much in the amount of dispersion in skills

Distribution of education and skills

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map / Q3

3. What do OECD data tell us about the relationship between the distribution of education and skills and social inequality?:• Educational attainment is positively

related to socio-economic outcomes (earnings, employment, trust, ...)

• Skills level and distribution are moderately related to socio-economic outcomes

Employment benefits of education are very significant

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Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary education%

Employment rates among 25-64 year-olds, by educational attainment (2012)

Social outcomes – interpersonal trustProportion of adults reporting that they trust others, by educational attainment (2012)

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Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary Education%

Social outcomes – trust in political institutionsIndividuals with higher level of education more likely to believe they have a say in government

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Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education

Tertiary Education%

Highly literate adults enjoy higher social benefits than low-literate adults

Good to excellent health

Being Employed

High levels of trust

Participation in volunteer activities

High levels of political efficacy

High wages1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0Average England (UK)

Odds ratios of those scoring at Level 4/5 compared with those scoring at Level 1 or below

A wide skills dispersion is unrelated to social inequality…

105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 1450.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Australia

Austria

Canada

Czech Rep Denmark

Estonia

Finland

GermanyIreland

ItalyJapan

Korea

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Slovak Rep

Spain

Sweden

United States

Flanders

UK

R² = 0.119482758733097

Score point difference between percentile 90 and 10 on the numeracy scale

Gini

Also, skills and wage inequality are unrelated

A wider skills dispersion at the top of the distribution is weakly related to social inequality

50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 680.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Australia

Austria

Canada

Czech Rep Denmark

Estonia

Finland

Germany Ireland

ItalyJapan

Korea

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Slovak Rep

Spain

Sweden

United States

Flanders

UK

R² = 0.225365468034165

Score point difference between percentile 90 and 50 on the numeracy scale

Gini

Partly because of a stronger effect of tertiary education on earnings at the top end

But, a higher mean numeracy score is positively related to more social equality

245 250 255 260 265 270 275 280 285 2900.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Australia

Austria

Canada

Czech RepublicDenmark

Estonia

Finland

GermanyIreland

ItalyJapan

Korea

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Slovak Republic

Spain

Sweden

United States

Flanders (Belgium)

United KingdomR² = 0.388766537010996

Mean numeracy score

Gini coefficient

And, also, less low-skilled adults is positively related to less social inequality

35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 750.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

Australia

Austria

Canada

Czech RepDenmark

Estonia

Finland

Germany Ireland

ItalyJapan

Korea

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Slovak Rep

Spain

Sweden

United States

Flanders

UKR² = 0.347930052361252

Percentage adults scoring below Level 2 on the numeracy scale

Gini

• Education and skills allocate various economic, social and cultural benefits in society which all directly or indirectly affect social inequality

• Still, skills dispersion and social inequality are not strongly related at the country level

• There is a weak relationship at the upper half of the distribution, but the impact of education there is stronger

• Higher skills level and more equitable skills distribution at the bottom end weakens social inequality

Relationships between dispersion of education and skills and social inequality

Social Inequality

Education & Skills

A simple conceptual map / Q4

Institutional &

policy framewo

rks

4. What do OECD data tell us about the institutional and policy frameworks in education and skills alleviating inequality?:• Equitable and inclusive

education policies• Pro-equality skills

policies

• In many countries educational institutions insufficiently support children of disadvantaged backgrounds and, hence, help to reproduce social inequality

• But we can learn from highly equitable and well-performing education systems in identifying education policies that mitigate the impact of social background

Institutional and policy frameworks: schools

• Equitable school policies:– Get children from disadvantaged families in ECEC and schools

as early as possible– Support disadvantaged families so that they can increase

investment in education of their children– Avoid early selection and tracking in education– Reduce repetition and prevent failure and drop-out– Manage school choice and segregation– Strengthen the links between school and family– Allocate resources to support schools with disadvantaged

populations– Ensure that every student acquires good foundation skills– Improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools with

disadvantaged students

Institutional and policy frameworks: schools

• Equitable skills policies– Provide second-chance opportunities to

educational qualifications and skills development

– Develop strong lifelong learning systems

– Target skills policies towards reducing the share of low-skilled in the adult population

– Focus skills policies towards specific groups-at-risk (NEET, unqualified school leavers, long-term unemployed, etc.)

Institutional and policy frameworks: skills

• In most countries, labour market institutions and wage structures favour educational qualifications over skills

Institutional and skills policies: labour markets

Labour market institutions and wage structures favour education over skills

Labour market institutions and wage structures favour education over skills

• In most countries, labour market institutions and wage structures favour educational qualifications over skills

• This might undermine attempts to improving skills among the low-skilled population

• Skills policies should strengthen reward mechanisms for skills development

Institutional and skills policies: labour markets

Thank you !

[email protected]/edu/ceri

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