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Background: In this paper, we investigate the predictors for enrollment and success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs in higher education. We develop a sequential logit model in which students enroll in STEM education, may drop out from STEM higher education, or continue studying until they graduate in an STEM field. We use rich Dutch register data on student characteristics and high school exam grades to explain the differences in enrollment, success, and dropout rates. Results: We find that females are less likely to enroll in STEM-related fields, while students with higher high school mathematics grades are more likely to enroll in STEM. Female students have lower first-year dropout rates at university of applied sciences STEM programs. With respect to study success, we find that conditional on enrollment in STEM, women are less likely to graduate than men within the nominal duration or the nominal duration plus one additional year. However, female students do perform equally well as male students in terms of graduation within 10 years. Conclusions: We conclude that STEM programs are less popular among female students and that female students are less likely to graduate on time. However, females perform equally well in STEM higher education in the long run. For this reason, policy should be geared at increasing study success in terms of nominal graduation rates among female STEM students.

Secondary school pupils underachieve in tests in which reasoning abilities are required. Brain-based training of working memory (WM) may improve reasoning abilities. In this study, we use a brain-based training programme based on historical content to enhance reasoning abilities in history courses. In the first experiment, a combined intervention of WM-capacity and reasoning strategies is trained and compared with control group data in "HAVO" (medium track secondary education in the Netherlands). WM-capacity and reasoning strategies of the experimental group improve significantly after three weeks of training. Students achieve significantly better in school tests in which reasoning abilities are tested. The gain in reasoning abilities is also significant 16 weeks after the training programme is completed. In the second experiment, WM-capacity and reasoning strategies are trained independently and compared with control group data in "VWO" (upper track secondary education). Training of WM-capacity did not improve achievements in reasoning tests significantly, but training of reasoning strategies did. However, the results of both experiments cannot be compared because of cognitive group differences between Experiment 1 and 2 (educational tracks). These results demonstrate that brain-based learning strategies to improve reasoning abilities can easily be integrated in history curricula. Furthermore, a six-week training period can improve reasoning abilities of students in secondary education significantly. The study used content-based, non-adaptive training methods that are based on standardised tests. Cognitive WM test scores indicate a ceiling effect which can be explained by the absence of the adaptive element in the training.

This paper examines the influence of college education on social trust at the individual level. Based on the literature of trust and social trust, we hypothesize that life experience/development since adulthood and perceptions of cultural/social structures are two primary channels in the causal linkage between college education and social trust. In the first part of the empirical study econometric techniques are employed to tackle the omitted-variable problem and substantial evidence is found to confirm the positive effect of college education. In the second part contemporary information is used to examine the hypothetical mechanisms in the causal inference. That life experience is a primary channel via which college education promotes social trust fails to find support in our examination, while individual perceptions of cultural and social structures explain up to 77% of the causal effect. (Contains 3 figures, 8 tables, and 11 footnotes.)

To assess the empirical estimates of the effect of education on social trust and social participation--the basic dimensions of individual social capital--a meta-analysis is applied, synthesizing 154 evaluations on social trust, and 286 evaluations on social participation. The publication bias problem is given special emphasis in the meta-analysis. Our statistical synthesis confirms that education is a strong and robust correlate of individual social capital. The meta-analysis provides support for the existence of a relative effect of education on social participation, and of a reciprocity mechanism between the dimensions of social capital. The analysis also suggests that the erosion of social participation during the past decades has coincided with a decrease of the marginal return to education on social capital. Finally, we find differences in the return to education between genders, between US and other nations, and variations for different education attainments. (Contains 7 tables.)

If partners derive utility from joint leisure time, it is expected that they will coordinate their work schedules in order to increase the amount of joint leisure. In order to control for differences in constraints and selection effects, this paper uses a new matching procedure, providing answers to the following questions: (1) Do partners coordinate their work schedules and does this result in work time synchronization?; (2) which partners synchronize more work hours?; and (3) is there a preference for togetherness? We find that coordination results in more synchronized work hours. The presence of children in the household is the main cause why some partners synchronize their work times less than other partners. Finally, partners coordinate their work schedules in order to have more joint leisure time, which is evidence for togetherness preferences.

There is a small but growing literature on the determinants of social capital. Most of these studies use a measure of trust to define social capital empirically. In this paper we use three different measures of social capital: the size of the individual's social network, the extent of their social safety net and membership of unions or associations. A second contribution to the literature is that we analyze what social capital contributes to our well-being. Based on this, we calculate the compensating income variation of social capital. We find differences in social capital when we differentiate according to individual characteristics such as education, age, place of residence, household composition and health. Household income generally has a statistically significant effect. We find a significant effect of social capital on life satisfaction. Consequently, the compensating income variation of social capital is substantial.

This paper analyses the relation between two important aspects of human capital: education and health. The contribution of our paper to the literature is three-fold: some further tests for causality in the relation between education and health are provided; it is tested whether results are affected by scale of reference bias and unobserved heterogeneity; and the results are used to calculate the health returns to education. We use data from a large survey for the Netherlands to estimate the education effects on health. Calculated at the average value of GDP per capita, the implied health returns to education are 1.3-5.8%. We further test for causality in the relation between education and health and for the effects of scale of reference bias and unobserved heterogeneity. None of these appear to affect our conclusions.

The structural relationships between body mass index, perceived health and happiness have been studied in a survey of 700 native Dutch citizens. We found an indirect effect of body mass index on happiness, via perceived health. Age had an inverted U-shaped relationship with body mass index, and both education and smoking had a negative effect on body mass index. Being married, doing paid work, owning a house, and doing sports had positive effects on perceived health, suggesting that living a regular life may lead to a better perceived health. Being married positively affected happiness. The other socio-demographic variables either had no effects on happiness or indirect effects via body mass index and perceived health.

A random effects ordered response model of training is estimated to analyze the existence of training tracks and time varying coefficients in training frequency. Two waves of a Dutch panel survey of workers are used covering the period 1992-1996. The amount of training received by workers increased during the period 1994-1996 compared to 1992-1994. Evidence is found for the existence of training tracks in the amount of training courses taken. It is further found that the effects of individual characteristics such as education, age and gender on training should be treated as individual varying coefficients.

Self-reported measures of life satisfaction may be biased by optimistic or pessimistic dispositions of respondents. In this paper we view life satisfaction as stochastic and estimate a two-tiered quality of life stochastic frontier model to account for upward and downward biases in self-reported quality of life questions. Using the British Household Panel Survey 1995, we interpret the two one-sided errors to represent optimism and pessimism, respectively. The results suggest that the realistic values of life satisfaction are closer to the pessimistic values than to the optimistic ones. It is further found that men are relatively more optimistic and less pessimistic than women. Cardiovascular disease makes people both less optimistic and less pessimistic. The results are used to calculate the compensating income variation (CIV) of cardiovascular disease. It is found that the CIV is substantial. Keywords: Quality of life; Health; Compensating income variation; UK: Cardiovascular disease

A subjective quality of life measurement method is introduced to calculate the compensating income variation for diseases and handicaps. This approach avoids some of the limitations of existing methods. The method is based on the direct measurement of life satisfaction of individuals. We apply the method to severe headache and migraine. It is found that severe headache and migraine have a large effect on well being and that the compensating income variation for severe headache and migraine is substantial. Keywords: Migraine; Life satisfaction; Willingness to pay

An analysis of the household labor supply and the welfare costs of marital conflict showed that the increased participation of women in the labor force increased marital conflict, while spouses may adjust their labor supply owing to marital conflict. Specifically, it was found that women who join the labor market have more conflicts with their spouses concerning the division of household tasks and the care of children, compared with non-working women. Marital conflict was also found to cause women to reduce their labor supply. Significant welfare losses due to marital conflict were also noted.

A random effects ordered response model is used to analyze individual life satisfaction. It is found that a substantial part of the unexplained variance in the individual's life satisfaction can be ascribed to the household or marriage. It is further found that the age variable should be considered as a random effect on life satisfaction, i.e., an effect that varies between households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study that analyzed the definitions of educational mismatches in the Dutch labor market. Frequency distribution of the skill mismatch variables by gender; Parameter estimates of the wage equations with years of over and undereducation; Conclusion.

Investigates a household production model of time allocated on paid labor, household work and child care. Percentage of women's time to non-market activities; Time men spend on housework; Differences among various types of households; Categories of household time allocation; Activities of a household production model; Advantages and disadvantages of the household production model.