Beyond educational attainment: the importance of skills and lifelong learning for social outcomes. Evidence for Europe from PIAAC

Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures individuals’ social outcomes, promoting active participation in society and stability. However, it is not so clear to what extent other human capital dimensions also correlate with social outcomes. To further disentangle this concern, we explore the unique opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey providing not only information on educational attainment but also on observed individual key skills proficiency, as well as participation in adult education and training (adult lifelong learning). Thus, we study the association between these human capital variables and social outcomes, captured by interpersonal trust and participation in volunteer activities. Results reveal that these social outcomes are affected not only by the formal qualification obtained, captured by the education variable, but throughout the life-cycle. In fact, education and training taken during the adult life has a significant effect, especially for volunteer. The fact that the skill proficiency also plays a significant role is extremely relevant, since skills are more likely to change over the life-cycle either in a positive or negative way. Indeed, while the formal education received is constant after exiting the education system, skills summarize in a much better and reliable way the competences: first, because individuals with the same level of education may have different skill levels due to differences in the quality of education or ability; second, skills can vary over time, for instance increase with work experience or informal education and decrease as a result of depreciation and ageing. These findings suggest that social outcomes are prone to be affected by many other ways than formal education and that policy makers can act even when formal education is completed.

VERA TOSCANO Maria Esperanza;  CAETANO RODRIGUES JORGE RODRIGUES FERRO Maria Margarida;  DINIS MOTA DA COSTA Patricia; 

2017-04-24

WILEY-BLACKWELL

JRC95674

0141-8211,   

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejed.12211/abstract?campaign=woletoc,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC95674,   

10.1111/ejed.12211,