Subject Choice and Attainment: State Secondary Schools in Scotland

Secondary education in Scotland is characterised by substantial socio-economic inequalities in attainment and gendered patterns of performance. Individuals from the most deprived backgrounds do significantly and systematically less well than those from more affluent households while boys underachieve compared to girls. Evaluating attainment in terms of numbers of qualifications achieved, ignores the importance of subject choice. Some subjects are more important than others for progression to tertiary education and employment opportunities. This thesis exploits Scottish Qualifications Authority administrative data, from 2002 to 2009, to investigate subject choice and attainment in facilitating subjects; traditional academic subjects that facilitate university entry. Chapter One uses sequential logit analysis to examine the decision to stay on at school to take Highers (qualifications necessary for university access) and the decision to take four or more Highers in facilitating subjects (the crucial number for entry to prestigious universities). Chapter Two employs multinomial logit analysis to examine attainment in individual facilitating subjects. Chapter Three uses logistic regression in the context of the Twin Testosterone Transfer hypothesis to explore whether gendered patterns of choice and attainment in Maths and Science might have a biological component in terms of increased testosterone exposure. Despite being in the top 50% for academic achievement nationally, individuals from the most deprived 20% of households were found to be 26% less likely to study four plus facilitating Highers compared to the most affluent 20%. Once facilitating subjects have been chosen, children’s ability was seen to be important for securing a low pass at Higher but insufficient to overcome socio-economic disadvantage to achieve the higher grades required by more prestigious universities. There was no evidence of any biological testosterone effect to explain gendered subject choice and attainment patterns. Stark socio-economic background effects revealed a fundamental social inclusion problem with respect to STEM education in Scottish secondary schools

The role of perceived organisational justice in the experience of pain among male and female employees

This study examined the association of organisational justice with pain among employees of a large organisation. Employees (n = 1829) completed measures of pain, fair pay, organisational justice, job satisfaction and stress. Logistic regression analyses found that organisational justice was unrelated to pain among women, but men with higher perceptions of fair pay were more likely to report chronic pain as were men with lower perceptions of distributive justice. This is the first study indicating that fair pay and distributive justice are both unique predictors of chronic pain in men. The findings have implications for supporting employees with chronic pain

Income tax varying powers and the Scottish labour market

In the 1980s, labour market flexibility came to be regarded as a potential panacea for unemployment. Greater wage and employment flexibility would reduce unit labour costs and increase productivity. Firms would become more competitive and profit margins would increase. Investment would be stimulated resulting in increased economic growth and employment. Labour market flexibility would thus trigger a supply-side generated, virtuous circle of investment, growth and employment. In the 1990s, the potential fallout from government policies which have deregulated the labour market and actively encouraged the growth of 'flexible' forms of employment is becoming apparent. There is now real concern that the undoubted increase in these nonstandard forms of employment (such as parttime, temporary and sub-contracting work) may have damaged the skills base of the economy and increased segmentation of the labour market. Additionally, there is the oftenoverlooked question of the link between the increase in (generally) relatively low-paid, flexible jobs and government finances. This article addresses the last issue in the context of the Scottish economy and the decision to establish a parliament in Edinburgh with income tax varying powers. It considers whether the present trend in Scottish labour market restructuring will provide a sustainable base for the forthcoming Parliament's tax varying powers and examines what the implications would be if a substitution of part-time for full-time work were to occur

Employability and Earnings Returns to Qualifications in Scotland

Gasteen A. and Houston J. (2007) Employability and earnings returns to qualifications in Scotland, Regional Studies 41, 443-451. Scottish Social Inclusion and Lifelong Learning policies emphasize the need for individuals to become qualified through the acquisition of formal qualifications. Although education policy in Scotland is a devolved activity, there has been little investigation of the earnings and employment returns in the labour market. This paper examines the earnings and employability performance of qualifications using Labour Force Survey data from 1999-2003. School-leaving qualifications offer a greater chance of employment and attract significantly superior earnings' premia than intermediate-school and lower-level Further Education qualifications. There is also evidence that individuals who had followed a standard educational route to higher level qualifications may enjoy extra earnings' premia. Gasteen A. et Houston J. (2007) L'employabilite et le rendement des diplomes en Ecosse, Regional Studies 41, 443-451. En Ecosse, les politiques envers l'inclusion sociale et l'apprentissage a vie mettent l'accent sur l'importance d'etre diplome. Bien qu'en Ecosse la politique d'education soit regionalisee, rares sont les recherches sur son rendement dans le marche du travail en termes du revenu et de l'emploi. A partir des donnees provenant de la Labour Force Survey (enquete sur l'emploi), 1999-2003, cet article cherche a examiner les effets revenu et emploi des diplomes. Les diplomes de fin de scolarite fournissent une meilleure possibilite d'emploi et entrainent un dividende de revenu nettement superieur que ne le font les diplomes de niveaux moyen ou inferieur dans l'enseignement professionnel. Il s'est avere aussi que les individus qui ont suivi une voie traditionnelle aux diplomes de niveau superieur pourraient jouir d'un dividende de revenu supplementaire. Rendement de l'education Diplomes Revenu Employabilite, Ecosse Gasteen A. und Houston J. (2007) Auswirkung von Qualifikationen auf Beschaftigungsfahigkeit und Einkommen in Schottland, Regional Studies 41, 443-451. Mit den Politiken fur gesellschaftliche Eingliederung und lebenslanges Lernen in Schottland wird die Notwendigkeit betont, dass sich die betroffenen Personen durch Erlangung formeller Qualifikationen qualifizieren. Seit der Dezentralisierung ist Schottland fur die Bildungspolitik zustandig, doch die Auswirkungen auf Einkommen und Beschaftigung im Arbeitsmarkt wurden bisher nur wenig untersucht. In diesem Beitrag werden die Auswirkungen von Qualifikationen auf Einkommen und Beschaftigungsfahigkeit anhand der Daten des Labour Force Survey von 1999 bis 2003 untersucht. Schulabschlusse auf hohem Niveau steigern die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Beschaftigung und fuhren zu signifikant hoheren Einkommenspramien als Schulabschlusse auf mittlerem Niveau oder niedrigere Abschlusse im Rahmen des zweiten Bildungsweges. Ebenso weist einiges darauf hin, dass Personen, die eine hohere Qualifikation auf dem ublichen Bildungsweg erworben haben, von zusatzlichen Einkommenspramien profitieren konnen. Auswirkungen von Bildung Qualifikation Einkommen Beschaftigungsfahigkeit Schottland Gasteen A. y Houston J. (2007) Beneficios de la educacion en Escocia para la capacidad de empleo y los ingresos, Regional Studies 41, 443-451. Con las politicas de inclusion social en Escocia y el aprendizaje durante toda la vida, se recalca la importancia de estar cualificados mediante la obtencion de diplomas formales. Aunque la politica educativa en Escocia es una competencia transferida, se han estudiado poco los beneficios para los ingresos y el empleo en el mercado laboral. En este ensayo examinamos los efectos de las calificaciones en funcion de las ganancias y el rendimiento de empleo segun los datos obtenidos en una Encuesta de Poblacion Activa de 1999-2003. Los titulos academicos representan una mayor opcion de empleo y atraen mas posibilidades de ingresos que los titulos de estudios medios o titulos inferiores de educacion secundaria. Tambien hay pruebas que demuestran que los estudiantes que siguen una via educativa estandar hasta obtener una titulacion superior reciben mas ingresos. Rendimiento de la educacion Titulaciones Ingresos Capacidad de empleo EscociaReturns to education, Qualifications, Earnings, Employability, Scotland,

Linking longitudinal studies of ageing with administrative data: First interim report

The Linking Longitudinal Studies of Ageing with Administrative Data project is an ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC) project. The project remit is to evaluate the administrative data linkage of the surveys belonging to the Health and Retirement Studies (HRS) family on the Gateway to Global Ageing (G2G) platform. It aims to provide a detailed understanding of linked studies’ content, use, challenges and value added. The HRS’ common aim is to better understand the issues affecting older people in their national populations, tracking and identifying changes over time. Cross-country comparisons are enabled by the G2G’s production of harmonized datasets for the studies. This report provides an initial overview of current and planned HRS survey linkage based on publicly available information and documentation on individual study websites and the G2G platform.Linkage of routinely collected administrative data to longitudinal surveys can: provide better quality, more accurate data, reducing respondent burden and survey costs, identify bias and maintain representativeness. There are, however, substantial challenges to linkage viz: complex data ownership, ethical and legal issues resulting in lengthy application and approval processes, inflexible access protocols, considerable data cleaning, linkage methodology and accuracy.Ten of the eighteen HRS family surveys currently hosted on the G2G platform were found to be linked to administrative data. In general, the HRS family of surveys do not appear to be as advanced with respect to administrative data linkage as other longitudinal studies. The exception to this is the US HRS and, to a lesser extent, the ELSA and SHARE studies.Three initial observations may be made. Firstly, where linkages exist, these are often intermittent and can become dated by the time the linked data are available. Secondly, the development of linkage across the different studies is piecemeal and generally not uniform; surveys are linked to different types of data depending on data access conditions within different countries and study interests. Lastly, microlevel data linkage appears to be most successful and/or consistent where this has been built into the development and design of a survey at the outset and when there is political or legal weight behind this.<br/

Linking longitudinal studies of ageing with administrative data: Second interim report

The Linking Longitudinal Studies of Ageing with Administrative Data project is an ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC) project. The project remit is to evaluate the administrative data linkage of the surveys belonging to the Health and Retirement Studies (HRS) family on the Gateway to Global Ageing (G2G) platform. It aims to provide a detailed understanding of linked studies’ content, use, challenges and value added. This second interim project report details the findings from a survey of 14 HRS family research teams conducted between June 2020 and June 2021. The survey focused on the benefits and challenges of linkage, examining application, approval and access processes, linkage mechanisms, linked data usage and impact.Our assessment of the linkage landscape found that linked datasets were invariably owned by central or local government departments. Health and mortality records were the types of data most often linked. Linkage was intermittent, reflecting fragmented administrative data infrastructures with multiple data controllers. Most studies were reliant on respondent consent to undertake linkage. Linkage mechanisms were determined primarily by national administrative data infrastructures. Linkage keys were usually dataset specific as data infrastructures tended to be fragmented and lacked unique ID numbers that would allow access to multiple datasets. Linkage was most often carried out using exact matching of dataset-specific ID numbers, rather than through a single linkage key that allows access to respondent records across multiple official administrative databases. Establishing and renewing linkages was critically dependent on relationships with data controllers, bureaucratic processes, resources, and national administrative data architecture. The length of time taken to build relationships and navigate the application/approval process varied between two and ten years. The longer the time taken, the greater the risk of disruption from changes in regulations and/or regimes.Ease of access to linked datasets varied across studies, ranging from the use of remote secure terminals, to visits to safe haven sites. The use of safe havens presents a barrier to researchers that can be costly and time consuming. The Covid-19 Pandemic appears to have initiated a move towards 2 greater use of remote secure terminal access. Linked data access protocols could vary within studies, with different access regimes in place for different data linkages. Where linked datasets were available to third party researchers, recording of access to the data or outputs from this was patchy; either because it was not deemed necessary to track use, or it was not possible given data access arrangements. Data share agreements tended to include clauses requesting researchers to notify studies of outputs, but these were not enforceable. Linked data usage was greatest, in general, where linkages had been in place longest and thirdparty access was not restricted. In the case of six studies – ELSA, HRS, JSTAR, NICOLA, SHARE, TILDA – linked data outputs were seen to have influenced either government policy, public debate and/or the future direction of research. While the validation of survey data was the single most cited benefit of administrative data linkage (seven studies), eight of the ten linked studies (at time of interview) also cited the mutual complementarity of longitudinal study data and administrative data and the broadening of research possibilities that linkage enables. HRS family linked data research outputs suggest that this is where the greatest value of linkage lies. Longitudinal study linkage with administrative data allows research questions to be explored that would not otherwise be possible with one type of data alone. It enables the before and after of life events or policy impacts and mitigations to be studied providing a better understanding of causality, risk factors and outcomes.The main challenges that the studies faced when undertaking data linkage centred on the building of relationships with both data controllers and respondents, data protection issues, the availability of resources and fragmented administrative data infrastructures. The development of trust was cited as key to building relationships with data controllers and, crucially, respondents. Given the reliance of most studies on respondent consent for linkage, if respondent trust was low this was likely to be reflected in low consent rates. Low consent rates had the potential to reduce linked data sample sizes to the extent that any marginal benefits were unlikely to outweigh resource costs. Of the four studies aspiring to future micro-level data linkage at the time of interview, MARS was best placed for this with the integration of official databases and unique personal identification numbers for the population. Future ELSI-Brazil and LASI linkage should be able to utilize unique personal identification numbers in Brazil and India respectively. HART linkage would be taking place against a background of fragmented data infrastructures and no unique ID. The MHAS experience demonstrated that, in some cases, the administrative data architecture may be simply too fragmented for linkage to be feasible.Better informed government policy was seen as the key benefit of linkage by the currently unlinked studies while the building of relationships, political buy-in and respondent trust were cited as the main challenges. We make the following recommendations:Studies should seek respondent consent at the outset of any linkage process, given that linkage agreements with data controllers often depend on having respondent consent and can take several years to negotiate.Simultaneously, studies should explore whether, given their governing data protection legislation, respondent consent is strictly necessary, as the removal of the need for respondent consent simplifies linkage processes considerably.The HRS family should pool and share linkage expertise in a formal forum, perhaps under the auspices of Gateway to Global Ageing (G2G), to avoid duplication of effort.HRS Studies should monitor and document the outputs from linked data and their impacts to build support for the case for future linkage.Where there is no system of identifying individuals uniquely and administrative data systems are fragmented, administrative bodies should seek to establish such a system in order to enable linkage across administrative datasets (e.g. employment, tax, benefit, health, education records).Where administrative data architecture is fragmented, infrastructure to centrally manage administrative datasets, creating a single point of access, should be developed by administrative bodies.The feasibility of linkage in real time, with studies able to link to multiple administrative databases simultaneously, on an as-needed, live basis, should be explored by administrative bodies.<br/