Gender Equality in Educational Achievement An East-West Comparison

Data on educational access show gender parity of pupils attending primary and secondary schools in transition countries. The aim of this analysis is to examine whether the gender balance in educational access translates also into gender equality in educational achievement. Besides a comparison of gender differences in mean achievement for transition and a benchmark group of OECD countries differences in boys’ and girls’ achievement distributions and determinants of gender inequality are examined. The reliability of results is increased by carrying out the analyses with three different educational achievement surveys: the Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS), the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Programme of International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

Inequality of learning amongst immigrant children in industrialised countries

Literature examining immigrants' educational disadvantage across countries focuses generally on average differences in educational outcomes between immigrants and natives disguising thereby that immigrants are a highly heterogeneous group. The aim of this paper is to examine educational inequalities among immigrants in eight high immigration countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA. Results indicate that for almost all countries immigrants' educational dispersion is considerably higher than for natives. For most countries higher educational dispersion derives from very low achieving immigrants. Quantile regression results reveal that at lower percentiles language skills impact more on educational achievement than at the top of the achievement distribution. Results are presented separately for immigrants of different age cohorts, varying time of immigrants' residence in the host country and subject examined (maths and reading) highlighting thereby the different patterns found by immigrant group and achievement measure. --Education,educational inequalities,immigration,PISA,TIMSS,PIRLS

Inequality of learning amongst immigrant children in industrialised countries

Literature examining immigrants’ educational disadvantage across countries focuses generally on average differences in educational outcomes between immigrants and natives disguising thereby that immigrants are a highly heterogeneous group. The aim of this paper is to examine educational inequalities among immigrants in eight high immigration countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA. Results indicate that for almost all countries immigrants’ educational dispersion is considerably higher than for natives. For most countries higher educational dispersion derives from very low achieving immigrants. Quantile regression results reveal that at lower percentiles language skills impact more on educational achievement than at the top of the achievement distribution. Results are presented separately for immigrants of different age cohorts, varying time of immigrants’ residence in the host country and subject examined (maths and reading) highlighting thereby the different patterns found by immigrant group and achievement measure

Gender equality in the labour market: Attitudes to women's work

The analysis of economic factors usually applied for examining gender inequality in the labour market suggests that former post communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe have reached similarly high standards of gender equality compared to Western European countries. This paper aims at comparing attitudes to women's work between transition and OECD countries highlighting the explanatory power of societal norms. The analysis of attitudes, their determinants and their change in regions and countries is based on mainly two waves (1994 and 1998) of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). These data reveal that a strikingly higher share of people in the East than in the West agrees with traditional values on women's work. The large homogeneity in patriarchal values of Eastern European people with differing socio-economic background explains these regional differences. The East-West gap in traditional value orientations is likely to widen given that liberal values spread faster in OECD than in transition countries. --

How different are immigrants? A cross-country and cross-survey analysis of educational achievement

Public policy making on asylum takes place in an environment of intense public scrutiny, strong institutional constraints and international collective action problems. By assessing the relative importance of key pull factors of international migration, this article explains why, even when controlling for their differences in size, some states receive a much larger number of asylum seekers than others. The analysis of 20 OECD countries for the period 1985-1999 further shows that some of the most high profile public policy measures—safe third country provisions, dispersal and voucher schemes—aimed, at least in part, at deterring unwanted migration and at addressing the highly unequal distribution of asylum burdens have often been ineffective. This is because the key determinants of an asylum seeker’s choice of host country are historical, economic and reputational factors that largely lie beyond the reach of asylum policy makers. Finally, the chapter argues that the effectiveness of unilateral policy measures will be further undermined by multilateral attempts to harmonise restrictive policies and that current efforts such as those by the European Union will consolidate, rather than effectively address, existing disparities in the distribution of asylum burdens

Gender inequality in east and west: attitudes to women’s participation in the labour market

The analysis of economic factors usually applied for examining gender inequality in the labour market suggests that former post communist countries have reached similarly high standards of gender equality compared to Western European countries. This paper aims at comparing attitudes to women’s work between transition and OECD countries highlighting the explanatory power of societal norms. The analysis of attitudes, their determinants and their change in regions and countries is based on micro-data of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) from 1994 and 1998 waves. These data reveal that a strikingly higher share of people in the East than in the West agrees with traditional values on women’s work. The large homogeneity in patriarchal values of Eastern European people with differing socio-economic background explains these regional differences. The East-West gap in traditional value orientations is likely to widen given that liberal values spread faster in OECD countries than in transition countries

RISIS Research Seminar: What can explain the socio-economic gap in international student mobility uptake? Similarities between Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the UK

International student mobility (ISM) prepares young people for the challenges of global and multicultural environments. However, disadvantaged students have lower participation rates in mobility schemes and, hence, benefit less from their positive impacts on career progression. Therefore, policymakers aim to make mobility programs more inclusive. Nevertheless, it is far from clear how policy design can achieve this aim. This study investigates factors driving inequality in international student mobility uptake. The study’s novelty is twofold: first, in contrast to most existing studies it does not only investigate individual but also university characteristics as possible drivers of unequal uptake. This is possible due to the use of rich graduate survey and administrative data merged with university-level European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) data. Second, the study compares results across four European countries. Results show that the socio-economic mobility gap remains still sizable even when taking university characteristics into account. However, universities matter considerably and especially student compositions in terms of socio-economic background and ability contribute to unequal ISM uptake. As a consequence, intergovernmental policies should aim to distribute grants and mobility opportunities more equally across all universities, independent of their student composition. Discussant: Kristina Hauschildt, German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), GermanyVideo of the seminar available at: https://youtu.be/_w1_lov12n

A sorting hat that fails? The transition from primary to secondary school in Germany

The recently published data from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed that Germany ranks lowest among the OECD countries for educational equalities. This paper examines whether it is the tracking of children into different types of school environments at a particularly early stage of their intellectual development, i.e. at the transition from primary to secondary school, which contributes to such inequalities. The analysis is based on data taken from two surveys of learning achievement, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). The data consistently reveal that although ability is a key selection criterion, children’s educational achievement varies greatly within the respective school tracks to which they are allocated. Although migrants are predominately selected to lower academic school tracks, they do not face educational inequalities if their socio-economic background and measured ability is similar to that of German nationals. On the other hand, children from rural areas, pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds and boys in general have a significantly lower probability of being selected to the most academic school track even when their educational ability is similar to that of their urban and better socially placed counterparts. Since the outcome of sorting is difficult to correct and school choice shapes career options, there is a high likelihood that such educational inequalities in secondary schooling will have an impact on pupils’ lives and career opportunities long after they have completed compulsory education