Search

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.

Previous research on the Italian case has shown that non-Western immigrants are very likely to hold low-qualified jobs and that their occupational mobility chances are rather poor, which suggests low returns to education. In this paper, we investigate whether, and to what extent, immigrants’ different areas of origin moderate the returns to educational degrees obtained in the origin country. Data from a survey on the immigrant population (carried out in 2011‒2012) are used, and, differently from previous studies, we focus on returns to origin-country education with respect to both the socioeconomic status of the first job found on arrival and the subsequent occupational mobility. The results show that almost all non-Western immigrants experience remarkably low returns to post-secondary education on their first job. Contrary to other West-European countries, those returns in Italy are only slightly different by area of origin, which suggests that differences in the transferability and quality of skills are scarcely relevant in a strongly segmented labour market. Rather, the modes of labour market insertion―e.g., formal search methods or relying on contacts with natives―have a sizeable impact on the returns. Origin-country post-secondary degrees are also consistently associated with low returns on subsequent mobility, although highly educated immigrants from new EU member states experience higher chances of upward mobility. In line with some recent findings, recognition of educational credentials seems decisive for the very few non-Western immigrants who are able either to access better-qualified jobs on arrival or to improve their occupational status over time.

National governments believe that higher levels of educational attainments and training are necessary for successful competition in knowledge-driven economies and all young people are urged to invest in their own human capital and learn new skills. Moves towards inclusive education have brought into mainstream schools and colleges many who would formerly have been segregated in special schooling or otherwise given minimum education, joining those simply regarded as lower attainers. More research is needed on what is happening to all these young people who do not do well in competitive education systems and uncertain job markets. This article is taken from a study which set out to discuss with school and college principals, local administrators, teachers and others, who they regard as lower attainers, what sort of education and training programmes are offered to the students, and what policies they think are in place to help young people into work or independent living. Discussions were held with respondents in England, Germany, the USA, Finland and Malta. The article takes Rawls' view that social injustice is mainly due to the inequitable distribution of economic and social resources and the State has a responsibility to ensure that all young people can participate in the economy and the society.