1. The Impact of Vocational Schooling on Human Capital Development in Developing Countries : Evidence from China
- Author
-
Loyalka, Prashant, Huang, Xiaoting, Zhang, Linxiu, Wei, Jianguo, Yi, Hongmei, Song, Yingquan, Shi, Yaojiang, and Chu, James
- Subjects
SOCIAL SCIENCE ,STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS ,SCHOOL DROP ,VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS ,ACADEMIC—HIGH SCHOOL ,EXAMS ,ECONOMIC GROWTH ,MATHEMATICS ,ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES ,EMPLOYMENT ,EXAMINATION ,TEST SCORES ,EXAM ,SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ,HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM ,RURAL EDUCATION ,INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ,JOB MARKET ,VALUES ,CURRICULA ,COHORT OF STUDENTS ,SUBJECTS ,STUDENT BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS ,WORKERS ,EDUCATION ,HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ,SCIENCE ,LABOUR MARKET ,QUALITY SCHOOLS ,LOW ENROLLMENTS ,HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT ,ACADEMIC HIGH SCHOOL ,CURRICULUM ,LIBRARY ,HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES ,COLLEGE ,VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS ,ENTRANCE EXAM ,READING ,EXPENDITURES PER STUDENT ,SKILLED WORKERS ,TEACHERS ,SCHOOL EXPERIENCE ,education ,TUITION ,MINISTRY OF EDUCATION ,STUDENTS ,STUDENT DROPOUT ,PROFESSOR ,ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION ,SCHOOLS ,PARENTAL EDUCATION ,NUMBER OF STUDENTS ,TEACHER ,STUDENT SKILLS ,SECONDARY EDUCATION ,VOCATIONAL SCHOOL ,NUMERACY ,HIGHER EDUCATION ,GRADUATE ,VOCATIONAL SECONDARY ,HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ,EDUCATIONAL FINANCE ,LITERACY ,COLLEGE ENTRANCE ,VOCATIONAL STUDENTS ,ENTRANCE EXAMINATION ,SCIENCE RESEARCH ,SMALL SCHOOLS ,SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH ,DROPOUT RATE ,ACADEMIC SUBJECTS ,SCHOOL YEAR ,COLLEGE DEGREE ,LITERATURE ,VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION ,EXAM SCORE ,ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ,JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ,NORMAL UNIVERSITY ,FEES ,RESEARCH ,HIGH SCHOOL ,TEXTBOOKS ,ACADEMIC SKILLS ,FACULTY ,HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ,OPEN ACCESS ,ACADEMIC SCHOOLS ,PAPERS ,GRADUATES ,PRIMARY DETERMINANT ,SCHOOL STUDENTS ,SCHOOL GRADUATES ,QUALIFIED TEACHERS ,STUDENT ,HIGH SCHOOLS ,SCHOOL TEACHERS ,YOUTH ,SKILL LEVELS ,HUMAN CAPITAL ,SKILLS ,SCHOOL QUALITY ,RESEARCHERS ,CLASS TIME ,TRAINING ,INSTRUCTION ,TEACHING ,EDUCATION REFORM ,VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL ,INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ,SKILLED LABOR ,LEARNING ,SCHOOL LEVEL ,EXPENDITURES ,GRADUATE EDUCATION ,STUDENT LEARNING ,SCHOOL SYSTEM ,INSTRUCTIONAL TIME ,ACHIEVEMENT ,INFORMATION ASYMMETRIES ,LIFELONG LEARNING ,KNOWLEDGE ,LOW-INCOME STUDENTS ,PRIMARY SCHOOL ,VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ,VOCATIONAL SKILLS ,STUDENT OUTCOMES ,HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS ,LIBRARIES ,DROPOUT RATES ,LABOR FORCE ,NATIONAL EDUCATION ,END OF GRADE ,SCHOOL ENROLLMENTS ,VOCATIONAL TRAINING ,SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ,SCHOOL ,UNIVERSITY ,ACADEMIC LEARNING ,SCHOOLING ,EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT ,MATH SCORES ,MATH ACHIEVEMENT - Abstract
A number of developing countries are currently promoting vocational education and training (VET) as a way to build human capital and strengthen economic growth. The primary aim of this study is to understand whether VET at the high school level contributes to human capital development in one of those countries—China. To fulfill this aim, a longitudinal data on more than 10,000 students in vocational high school (in the most popular major, computing) and academic high school from two provinces of China are used. First, estimates from instrumental variables and matching analyses show that attending vocational high school (relative to academic high school) substantially reduces math skills and does not improve computing skills. Second, heterogeneous effect estimates also show that attending vocational high school increases dropout, especially among disadvantaged (low-income or low-ability) students. Third, vertically scaled (equated) baseline and follow-up test scores are used to measure gains in math and computing skills among the students. The results show that students who attend vocational high school experience absolute reductions in math skills. Taken together, the findings suggest that the rapid expansion of vocational schooling as a substitute for academic schooling can have detrimental consequences for building human capital in developing countries such as China.
- Published
- 2015