The document discusses findings from OECD data related to social inequality, education, and skills. It finds that socioeconomic status has a significant impact on student learning outcomes and access to tertiary education. While this impact has slightly weakened over time, it is still felt throughout individuals' educational careers. The distribution of educational attainment and skills varies widely between countries. Higher average skills levels and more equitable distributions are correlated with less social inequality. The document also discusses policies countries have implemented to make education and skills training more equitable and inclusive.
4. Social
Inequality
Education
& Skills
A simple conceptual map / Q1
1. What do OECD data tell us
about impact of social inequality on
learning outcomes and skills?:
• Impact of parents’ socio-
economic status on students’
learning outcomes (PISA)
• Impact of parents’ education
status on access to tertiary
education (PIAAC)
• Impact of parents’ background
on adult skills (PIAAC)
5. • Main findings (OECD countries):
– A socio-economically advantaged student scores 39
points higher in math (equivalent of nearly one year of
schooling) than less-advantaged student
– Socio-economic status explains on average 14.8% of
variance in math performance
– But differences between countries are huge
– PISA data show that there is no trade-off between
excellence and equity in students’ learning outcomes
– Between 2003 and 2012 a slight improvement in
equity of learning outcomes has been noted
Impact of socio-economic background on
students’ learning outcomes in PISA 2012 (math)
7. Trends in equity between PISA 2003 and
PISA 2012
Turkey
Germany
Netherlands
Mexico
Sweden
OECD average
Uruguay
Australia
Belgium
Austria
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Luxembourg
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Spain
Switzerland
United States
Brazil
Hong Kong-China
Indonesia
LatviaLiechtenstein
Macao-China
Russian FederationThailand
Tunisia
-4.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
-20 -10 0 10
Annualisedchangeinmathematicsperformance
Change in the percentage of variation in mathematics performance explained
by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (2012 - 2003)
Equity deterioratedEquity improved
PerformancedeterioratedPerformanceimproved
8. Impact of parents’ education on access to
tertiary education (PIAAC data)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
CzechRepublic
Japan
Germany
Estonia
Poland
Canada
Norway
UnitedStates
RussianFederation*
Finland
SlovakRepublic
Austria
Sweden
England/N.…
Denmark
Flanders(Belgium)
Average
France
Korea
Australia
Netherlands
Ireland
Italy
Spain
Proportion of young students (20-34 year-olds) in tertiary education whose parents have below upper secondary education
Proportion of parents with below upper secondary education in the total parent population
%
9. Impact of parents’ educational status on skills
distribution (numeracy)
Australia
Austria
Flanders (Belgium) Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Slovak Republic
Spain
Sweden
England/N. Ireland (UK)
United States
R² = 0.3275
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140
Score-pointdifference,byparents'highestlevelof
educationalattainment
Score-point difference between the top and the bottom 10% in numeracy proficiency
Correlation between inequality in numeracy skills and the impact of
parents' education
Correlation = 0.57
Native born only, controlling
for age and gender
10. • Educational inequality (parents’ socio-economic
background) has a high impact on outcomes of
education and skills
• But the impact is slightly weakening
• The impact is felt throughout the educational life-
course, well into access and success in tertiary
education
• Impact of social background is related to the
width of the distribution of skills
Impact of social inequality on education and
skills
11. Social
Inequality
Education
& Skills
A simple conceptual map / Q2
2. What do OECD data tell us
about the distribution of education
and skills?:
• Evolution of the Education Gini
• Distribution of educational
attainment
• Differential growth rates at top
and bottom of educational
attainment
• Distribution of literacy and
numeracy in adult population
15. Differential growth rates at top and bottom of
educational attainment (25-64 year-olds, 2000-2013)
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
Sweden
Finland
Israel
Canada
Estonia
Australia
Belgium
Germany
Norway
UnitedKingdom
Hungary
Greece
NewZealand
Korea
Iceland
CzechRepublic
France
UnitedStates
SlovakRepublic
EU21average
Netherlands
OECDaverage
Slovenia
Austria
Ireland
Spain
Mexico
Luxembourg
Poland
Switzerland
Italy
Denmark
Turkey
Portugal
Average annual growth rate below secondary education
Average annual growth rate tertiary education
Difference in the extent of both annual growth rates
More inclusive Less inclusive
16. Inequality indices – Numeracy Skills
Country CV 90th-10th 90th-50th 50th-10th
Australia 0.21 136.59 62.33 74.26
Austria 0.18 121.24 55.95 65.30
Canada 0.21 138.28 62.61 75.67
Czech Republic 0.16 110.94 50.90 60.03
Denmark 0.18 126.10 57.47 68.63
Estonia 0.17 113.92 53.46 60.45
Finland 0.18 127.65 59.21 68.44
France 0.22 141.80 62.39 79.41
Germany 0.20 133.09 59.10 73.99
Ireland 0.21 129.33 59.28 70.05
Italy 0.20 126.26 59.87 66.39
Japan 0.15 110.05 50.89 59.17
Korea 0.17 114.60 51.31 63.29
Netherlands 0.18 125.11 53.97 71.14
Norway 0.19 131.77 57.90 73.88
Poland 0.20 127.86 59.20 68.66
Slovak Republic 0.17 117.16 51.03 66.12
Spain 0.21 129.61 57.08 72.53
Sweden 0.20 132.84 58.74 74.10
United States 0.23 144.84 66.66 78.18
Flanders (Belgium) 0.18 127.84 57.13 70.71
England/N. Ireland (UK) 0.21 137.71 64.38 73.33
OECD Average 0.20 130.99 59.20 71.79
Distribution in numeracy skills among adults
(PIAAC)
17. Distribution of Numeracy Proficiency0
.002.004.006.008
.01
0 100 200 300 400 500
United States Czech Republic
France Japan
OECD Average
FRANCE
JAPAN
20. • Generally, educational inequality has diminished
over the past half century
• But many countries have a heavily polarized
educational attainment structure
• In some countries expansion of education made
the educational attainment structure more
inclusive, while in others inequality increased
• Countries differ very much in the amount of
dispersion in skills
Distribution of education and skills
21. Social
Inequality
Education
& Skills
A simple conceptual map / Q3
3. What do OECD data tell us about the
relationship between the distribution of
education and skills and social inequality?:
• Educational attainment is positively
related to socio-economic outcomes
(earnings, employment, trust, ...)
• Skills level and distribution are
moderately related to socio-economic
outcomes
22. Employment benefits of education are very
significant
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Iceland
Norway
Switzerland
Sweden
Germany
Netherlands
Austria
Denmark
Latvia
Brazil
Slovenia
Israel
Luxembourg
Poland
Belgium
Australia
France
Finland
Chile
UnitedKingdom
NewZealand
CzechRepublic
OECDaverage
EU21average
RussianFederation
Estonia
Portugal
Canada
Mexico
UnitedStates
SlovakRepublic
Ireland
Japan
Hungary
Italy
Spain
Korea
Turkey
Greece
%
Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary education
Employment rates among 25-64 year-olds, by educational attainment (2012)
23. Social outcomes – interpersonal trust
Proportion of adults reporting that they trust others, by educational
attainment (2012)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
SlovakRepublic
Estonia
Italy
CzechRepublic
France
Korea
Germany
Japan
Ireland
Poland
England/N.…
Average
Flanders(Belgium)
Canada
Spain
Austria
UnitedStates
Australia
Finland
Netherlands
Sweden
Norway
Denmark
%
Below upper secondary education Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education Tertiary Education
24. Social outcomes – trust in political institutions
Individuals with higher level of education more likely to believe
they have a say in government
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
CzechRepublic
Italy
Spain
Estonia
Germany
Japan
SlovakRepublic
Ireland
Canada
Korea
England/N.Ireland
(UK)
Austria
Average
Flanders(Belgium)
Australia
UnitedStates
Netherlands
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Norway
%
Below upper secondary education
Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education
Tertiary Education
25. Highly literate adults enjoy higher social
benefits than low-literate adults
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
Good to
excellent
health
Being
Employed
High levels
of trust
Participation
in volunteer
activities
High levels
of political
efficacy
High wages
Average England (UK)
Odds ratios of those scoring at Level 4/5 compared with those scoring at Level 1 or below
26. A wide skills dispersion is unrelated to social
inequality…
Australia
Austria
Canada
Czech Rep Denmark
Estonia
Finland
GermanyIreland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Slovak Rep
Spain
Sweden
United States
Flanders
UK
R² = 0.1195
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145
Gini
Score point difference between percentile 90 and 10 on the numeracy scale
28. A wider skills dispersion at the top of the
distribution is weakly related to social inequality
Australia
Austria
Canada
Czech Rep Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Slovak Rep
Spain
Sweden
United States
Flanders
UK
R² = 0.2254
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68
Gini
Score point difference between percentile 90 and 50 on the numeracy scale
29. Partly because of a stronger effect of tertiary
education on earnings at the top end
30. But, a higher mean numeracy score is
positively related to more social equality
Australia
Austria
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
GermanyIreland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Slovak Republic
Spain
Sweden
United States
Flanders (Belgium)
United Kingdom
R² = 0.3888
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
245 250 255 260 265 270 275 280 285 290
Gini coefficient
Mean numeracy score
31. And, also, less low-skilled adults is positively
related to less social inequality
Australia
Austria
Canada
Czech Rep
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Germany Ireland
Italy
Japan
Korea
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Slovak Rep
Spain
Sweden
United States
Flanders
UK R² = 0.3479
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
0.40
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Gini
Percentage adults scoring below Level 2 on the numeracy scale
32. • Education and skills allocate various economic,
social and cultural benefits in society which all
directly or indirectly affect social inequality
• Still, skills dispersion and social inequality are
not strongly related at the country level
• There is a weak relationship at the upper half of
the distribution, but the impact of education
there is stronger
• Higher skills level and more equitable skills
distribution at the bottom end weakens social
inequality
Relationships between dispersion of
education and skills and social inequality
33. Social
Inequality
Education
& Skills
A simple conceptual map / Q4
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4. What do OECD data tell
us about the institutional
and policy frameworks in
education and skills
alleviating inequality?:
• Equitable and inclusive
education policies
• Pro-equality skills
policies
34. • In many countries educational institutions
insufficiently support children of disadvantaged
backgrounds and, hence, help to reproduce
social inequality
• But we can learn from highly equitable and well-
performing education systems in identifying
education policies that mitigate the impact of
social background
Institutional and policy frameworks: schools
35. • Equitable school policies:
– Get children from disadvantaged families in ECEC and
schools as early as possible
– Support disadvantaged families so that they can increase
investment in education of their children
– Avoid early selection and tracking in education
– Reduce repetition and prevent failure and drop-out
– Manage school choice and segregation
– Strengthen the links between school and family
– Allocate resources to support schools with disadvantaged
populations
– Ensure that every student acquires good foundation skills
– Improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools with
disadvantaged students
Institutional and policy frameworks: schools
36. • Equitable skills policies
– Provide second-chance opportunities to
educational qualifications and skills development
– Develop strong lifelong learning systems
– Target skills policies towards reducing the share
of low-skilled in the adult population
– Focus skills policies towards specific groups-at-
risk (NEET, unqualified school leavers, long-term
unemployed, etc.)
Institutional and policy frameworks: skills
37. • In most countries, labour market institutions and
wage structures favour educational qualifications
over skills
Institutional and skills policies: labour markets
40. • In most countries, labour market institutions and
wage structures favour educational qualifications
over skills
• This might undermine attempts to improving
skills among the low-skilled population
• Skills policies should strengthen reward
mechanisms for skills development
Institutional and skills policies: labour markets