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on Education |
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Issue of 2010‒08‒21
six papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao University of Beira Interior and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Avram, S; Dronkers, Jaap |
| Abstract: | Denominational schooling makes up an important part of European educational systems. Given its specificity, denominational schooling can be expected to place a greater weight on values teaching and moral education. As such, it may be more effective in bringing about certain attitudes and opinions. It also may be more successful in creating a warm and caring atmosphere, thus helping students to better emotionally connect to the school community. This paper set out to empirically test some of these hypotheses by making use of three waves of data collected in the framework of the Program for International Student Assessment study. We compare public and publicly supported private (as a proxy to denominational) schools on two dimensions, namely the emotional integration with the rest of the school community, and the concern and feelings of responsibility towards the environment. But for Austria, Belgium and Spain, no evidence could be found that the type of the school has any impact on the reported psychological adaptation to the school. In these three countries, publicly supported private schools tend to be more successful in integrating their students. Also students in public and private dependent schools were equally environment oriented, taking into account several student and school characteristics. The lack of schooling sector differences in attaining non-cognitive aims may have at least three causes. First, ecological issues could be salient enough not to necessitate any special religious or moral reinforcement in order to gain traction. Second, public schools may use religious education or ethics just as fruitfully and consequently, they are just as successful in values and norms transmission. Third, it is possible that schools play a minor role in introducing students to environmental dilemmas and concerns, this role being taken over by the family or the media. |
| Keywords: | public schools; private schools; non-cognitive; value teaching; psychological integration; PISA data |
| JEL: | H4 I21 L33 |
| Date: | 2010–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:24295&r=edu |
| By: | Liam Delaney (UCD Geary Institute, University College Dublin; School of Economics, University College Dublin; School of Public Health and Population Science, University College Dublin); Colm Harmon (UCD Geary Institute, University College Dublin; School of Economics, University College Dublin; IZA, Bonn); Cathy Redmond (UCD Geary Institute, University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | While there is an extensive literature on intergenerational transmission of economic outcomes (education, health and income for example), many of the pathways through which these outcomes are transmitted are not as well understood. We address this deficit by analysing the relationship between socio-economic status and child outcomes in university, based on a rich and unique dataset of university students. While large socio-economic differences in academic performance exist at the point of entry into university, these differences are substantially narrowed during the period of study. Importantly, the differences across socio-economic backgrounds in university grade attainment for female students is explained by intermediating variables such as personality, risk attitudes and time preferences, and subject/college choices. However, for male students, we explain less than half of the socio-economic gradient through these same pathways. Despite the weakening socio-economic effect in grade attainment, a key finding is that large socio-economic differentials in the earnings expectations of university students persist, even when controlling for grades in addition to our rich set of controls. Our findings pose a sizable challenge for policy in this area as they suggest that equalising educational outcomes may not translate into equal labour market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Socio-Economic Status, Education, Inequality, Discrimination |
| Date: | 2010–08–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201035&r=edu |
| By: | Bieber, Tonia |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the importance of governance of international organizations (IOs) to Swiss policy making in the field of education. The focus is on the Bologna Process driven by the European Commission, and the 'Programme for International Student Assessment' (PISA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The theoretical framework draws on sociological institutionalism and rationalism. The results demonstrate that IOs gave impulses for domestic reforms by applying diverse governance instruments. National transformation capacities of veto-players and cultural guiding principles on education in Switzerland were not able to hinder these impulses as supposed. Instead, the empirical findings show a surprisingly high impact of IO governance instruments, particularly of standard setting, coordinative activities and discursive dissemination on reforms in Swiss education policy-making. This is because IO governance modified domestic guiding principles on education so that they matched those of the IOs. Another reason is that the domestic level strategically used the international initiatives of PISA and Bologna to overcome long-standing backlog of reform. -- Dieses Arbeitspapier untersucht die Bedeutung von Governance internationaler Organisationen (IOs) für die Schweizer Politikgestaltung im Bildungsbereich. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf dem Bologna Prozess, der von der Europäischen Kommission vorangetrieben wird, und der PISA-Studie (Programme for International Student Assessment) der OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Der theoretische Rahmen beruht auf dem soziologischen Institutionalismus und Rationalismus. Die Resultate zeigen, dass IOs durch Anwendung diverser Governance-Instrumente wichtige Impulse für innerstaatliche Reformen gaben. Nationale Transformationskapazitäten - Vetospieler und kulturelle Leitideen der Bildung - der Schweiz verhinderten dies nicht. Statt dessen demonstrieren die empirischen Befunde einen unerwartet hohen Einfluss von IO Governance-Instrumenten - insbesondere von Standard Setting, koordinativen Aktivitäten und diskursiver Verbreitung - auf die Schweizer Gestaltung von Bildungspolitik. Dies lag daran, dass IO Governance innerstaatliche Leitideen der Bildung so modifizierte, dass sie denen der IOs entsprachen. Zudem nutzten nationale Akteure die internationalen Initiativen von PISA und Bologna strategisch, um lange anhaltenden Reformstau zu überwinden. |
| Keywords: | Bologna Process,Direct Democracy,Education Policy-Making,EU,Federalism,International Initiative,International Organization,OECD,PISA Study,Switzerland,Veto-Player |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:sfb597:117&r=edu |
| By: | Kahanec, Martin (IZA); Yuksel, Mutlu (IZA) |
| Abstract: | In this chapter, we investigate the effects of vulnerability on income and employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia using a unique 2004 UNDP dataset. Treating the collapse of the former Yugoslavia as a natural experiment, we compare three groups that have been differently affected by the wars and post-war distress: the majority as the benchmark, the ex-ante and ex-post vulnerable Roma people, and the ex-ante equal but ex-post vulnerable refugees and internally displaced people (RIDPs). Our findings reveal significant negative effects of vulnerability on income and employment. RIDPs seem to be about as negatively affected as Roma across the four states, which indicate that vulnerability inflicted by relatively recent displacement may have similar effects as vulnerability rooted deep in the past. When we look at education as one of the key determinants of socio-economic outcomes, both groups exhibit similarly substandard educational outcomes of children and significant inertia in intergenerational transfer of human capital. Our findings highlight the need for policies that not only tackle vulnerability as such, but address the spillover effects of current vulnerability on future educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | vulnerability, labor market, education, Roma, refugees, internally displaced people, discrimination, integration |
| JEL: | I21 I12 J24 N34 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5108&r=edu |
| By: | Niknami, Susan (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS) |
| Abstract: | This study uses extensive Swedish register data to analyze the intergenerational transmission of education between immigrant mothers and their daughters. The results show that the transmission is only slightly lower among daughters of immigrant mothers compared to native daughters. The educational relationship between mothers and daughters is further found to be nonlinear. For both groups, the intergenerational link is weaker among daughters of poorly educated mothers. Moreover, the average transmission differs across immigrant groups but these differences can be explained partly by dissimilar maternal educational backgrounds. In addition, the differences between women with an immigrant background and native women have decreased across the two generations. Finally, the educational attainment of an immigrant group has a positive but weak impact on daughters’ educational outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants; Education; Intergenerational transmission |
| JEL: | I20 J15 J62 |
| Date: | 2010–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2010_010&r=edu |
| By: | Monacciani, Fabiana |
| Abstract: | Aim of the paper is to present a new model, based on multivariate statistic analyses, allowing to express a synthetic judgement on Departments activities by taking into consideration the whole set of indicators describing them both as aggregations of researchers and as University autonomous organs. The model, based on Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis, allows both to explain the determinants of Departments performances, and to classify them into homogeneous groups. The paper shows the results obtained by testing the proposed model on University of Naples “L’Orientale” Departments, using data extracted by the 2007 assessment report to the Ministry of University and Research. |
| Keywords: | Evaluation; Departments; Multivariate statistics |
| JEL: | D0 I23 C19 |
| Date: | 2010–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:24224&r=edu |