Education in States and Nations: 1991
(ESN) Indicators 3, 21, 22, 26, 27, and 28: Note on labor force participation, educational attainment of the population, educational equity for women, unemployment and education, education and earnings, and gender differences in earnings
Notes on Figures and Tables
Australia
Estimates are based on self-reported information about the number of years of schooling and the highest diploma or degree obtained.
The data do not refer to the age groups 25-to-64 and 55-to-64 but to the groups 25-to-69 and 55-to-69 years of age.
The gender differences in educational attainment can partly be explained as a result of the method used to allocate individuals to levels of education. In the past, persons who transferred from lower secondary education to apprenticeship programs (mostly men) were classified at the upper secondary level, whereas those who transferred directly to nurse and teacher education programs (mostly women) were classified as non-university higher education. In the current classification system nurse and teacher education programs are considered as university education. Because a wide age band is examined in Indicators 21 and 22, it will take a number of years before the impact of the current classification system is fully reflected in the data.
Austria
Classifications for the upper secondary to graduate-school levels of education are based on the highest diploma received; whereas those for the preprimary to lower secondary levels refer to the number of years of schooling obtained. Because of the data structure, non-university higher education graduates are reported at the upper secondary level.
Belgium
Estimates are based on self-reported information about the highest diploma or degree obtained. The data are collected by means of a labor force survey.
Canada
Classification to the primary through upper secondary levels is based on the number of years of schooling, and on obtained diplomas and degrees for the higher education levels.
Czechoslovakia
Data refer to the population 25 years of age and over. For the age group 55-64 years, the data in fact refer to the group aged 55 years and older.
Non-university higher education is included in the upper secondary level. One per cent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Finland
Data are derived from the Register of Completed Education and Degrees. The register contains information about educational qualifications at the upper secondary through graduate school levels, as attained within the regular school and university system. Adult education and apprenticeship programs are excluded.
France
Classification is based on diplomas for all levels except the preprimary and primary levels. The upper secondary level is very complex as it refers to general, vocational and professional education. The professional programs in the upper secondary level lead to three separate diplomas. One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Germany
The survey data refer to the populations living in the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) as well as in the former territory of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Only obtained diplomas or degrees are considered in classifying persons in the upper secondary through graduate school levels (i.e., persons must complete all requirements, including successful performance on any required exit exam, before being counted at a particular educational attainment level). The data include 11 per cent non-response, which was proportionally redistributed across the education levels.
Ireland
Classification to level of education is made by level of certificate, with the exception of the preprimary and primary levels, where the number of years of schooling is used. A significant number of people who have completed apprenticeship programs equivalent to upper secondary education are classified at the lower secondary level. Postsecondary vocational courses are classified at the upper secondary level, while postsecondary academic programs are classified as non-university or university education. The proportion of women with upper secondary education is likely to be relatively large due to the classification of a predominantly male population with apprenticeship qualifications at the lower secondary level. One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Netherlands
Classification is based on self-reported information, collected by means of a labor force survey, concerning the highest diploma or degree obtained in regular, as well as in adult, education.
Senior secondary vocational education is totally classified at the upper secondary level. A new scheme currently under development proposes to classify the 3- and 4-year programs as non-university higher education.
New Zealand
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Norway
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Portugal
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Sweden
The data are based on the national register of population and educational attainment, which contains information about issued certificates at the higher education levels. Around 20 percent of the classifications at the non-university level and 10 percent at the university and graduate school levels are based on self-reported information. Until 1968, persons who had passed an examination of a general program at the upper secondary level were awarded a diploma. The classification of persons educated at a later date is not based on diplomas but on the completion of the lower or upper secondary levels.
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Switzerland
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
Turkey
Classification is based on the latest diploma or degree obtained. The preprimary level is excluded.
United Kingdom
Data are based on a labor force survey which does not include women older than 60 years of age because the female retirement age is 60. Therefore, the number of women 60 to 64 years of age and their educational attainment is estimated.
The upper secondary level (defined as beginning at about 14 or 15 years of age and lasting about three years) is interpreted for the United Kingdom as covering all persons with O level or A level examination passes, or their equivalent. Most vocational qualifications are included in the upper secondary level.
One percent or less of the total is not classified by level. Missing data were proportionally redistributed.
United States
Classification to levels of educational attainment is based on the highest level of education completed (or, the highest credential obtained), as specified by the 1990 U.S. Census response format, shown in Table S7:
Table S7: U.S. Census Bureau classification of levels of educational attainment: 1990
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level of educational attainment Highest level of education completed --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preprimary-primary 8th grade or less Lower secondary 9th grade to 12th grade (without a high school diploma) Upper secondary High school graduate Non-university higher education Associate degree (occupational or academic program) University Bachelor's degree or higher ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population and Housing.
Technical Notes
Comparing educational attainment in the Current Population Survey and the 1990 Census of Population
The OECD's
The Current Population Survey employed too small a sample, however, to give reliable estimates for most educational attainment and school enrollment indicators in the smaller of the U.S. states. Therefore, this report uses state estimates of educational attainment and school enrollment from the 1990 U.S. Census of Population. Though these estimates are a year older than the CPS estimates, they are reliable for every state _ within acceptable margins of error.
Unfortunately, because the CPS and the Census classified students to levels of education very differently, they would appear awkwardly unmatched if used together in indicators in this report (as they would be if the U.S. total from Education at a Glance was employed in the same bar chart with Census-derived state estimates). The CPS assigned respondents to levels of education according to the number of years of schooling completed, whereas the Census assigned respondents to levels of education primarily according to diplomas or degrees completed.
The two tables below illustrate the problem. Table S8 presents the U.S. totals for educational attainment by level from the CPS for persons 25 to 64 years of age. Table S9 presents the same using the April 1990 Census as a source. The reader may note, among several other classification anomalies, that the non-university higher education level comprised 13 percent of the U.S. population 25 to 64 years old according to the CPS (Table S8), but 7 percent according to the Census (Table S9). The CPS was almost twice as large, and also may have been different in ways other than size.
Given these comparability problems, it was decided to use 1990 Census estimates for both the U.S. total and the state-level estimates in all the educational attainment and school enrollment indicators. This gives us older data for the U.S. (1990 rather than 1991), but superior comparability to the U.S. states without any loss of validity or reliability in the U.S. estimate.
Classifying educational attainment by the 1990 Census' method imbues an "all-or-nothing" character to the measure. A person must fully complete a degree in an upper secondary, university, or non-university program in order to be counted at those levels. This classification method can give rise to some anomalous situations. Consider, for example, a person pursuing a bachelor's degree who has completed three years of a four-year program. In this classification scheme, that person would only have an upper secondary level of education, despite having completed more higher education coursework than most associate's degree holders.
It should come as no surprise, then, to see that the 1990 Census numbers are larger than the CPS numbers for lower levels of education and smaller for higher levels of education.
See the technical note to Indicator 8 for a discussion of CPS and Census comparability with regard to school enrollment measures.
Table S8: Educational attainment in the United States according to the Current Population Survey, by years of education: March 1991
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Persons Number of Percent
aged 25-64 women who are
Level of education/Years of education (thousands) Percent (thousands) women
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preprimary-lower secondary: 11 years 21,536 17 10,730 50
or fewer
Upper secondary: 12-13 years 60,196 47 32,496 54
Non-university higher education: 14-15 16,496 13 8,449 51
years
University: 16 years or more, 30,376 24 13,986 46
TOTAL 128,604 100 65,661 51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 1991 and 1990, Table 1.
Table S9: Educational attainment in the United States according to the decennial Census, by levels of education: April 1990
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Persons aged 25- Number of women Percent who
Level of education 64 (thousands) Percent (thousands) are women
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Preprimary-lower secondary: 24,726 19 12,286 50
12th grade or less; no diploma
Upper secondary: High school graduate 64,912 51 34,526 53
or some college; no degree
Non-university higher education: 9,038 7 4,957 55
Associate degree
University: Bachelor's degree 28,952 23 13,144 45
or higher
TOTAL 127,629 100 64,913 51
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SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1990 Census of Population, Education in the United States, Table 1.
International comparisons of current public education expenditures
GDP/GSP per capita