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Working with your Education

It seemed so simple in secondary school - graduate, get some training and find a job - but, how much and what kind of training is necessary? Ideally, today's young adults will pursue a college or university designation that will prepare a solid base for learning, and mounting research is showing the value of doing so.

We all understand the advantages of post-secondary education, but many of us now wonder where a little more education would have taken us, if anywhere else at all. Today, statistics comparing career prospects for those with a higher education versus those who leave academia at an earlier stage provide an unmistakable trend, and the importance of completing one's educational program is clear.

In the US, job areas marked for the greatest level of growth require post-secondary education at the degree level or higher. However, an increasing number of service sector jobs also emphasize an enhancement of basic reading, mathematics and communications skills. Enhancing these basic skills at the post-secondary level has a direct correlation to an increased annual salary in every job area.

Globally, the unemployment rate is lower for the better qualified. According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in December 1999, the unemployment rate for people with post-secondary qualifications is less than half the rate for those without (4.6% and 9.6% respectively). Labour force participation rates also remained significantly higher for people with such qualifications, 4.3% compared to 68.4% for those with no qualifications.

Figures released by the ABS in December 1998 showed that half of the 8.4 million employed people had a recognized post-secondary qualification, compared with 30% of the 735,600 unemployed people. Almost 44% of those unemployed had not attended the highest level of school available.

In the UK, recognizing the value of a post-secondary education, in 1998 the government implemented The New Deal for Young People. This program aims to train, counsel and to help with job searches in order to improve the retention of young people (aged 18 to 24) in the work force. A recent UK study, Labour Market Trends, February 2002, underlines the importance of such programs. The report showed that people educated to at least the degree level have the lowest levels of unemployment.

According to the 1996 Canadian census, the unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 34 with less than a high school qualification stood at 18%, a rise from the 10% figure measured in 1981. The rate of unemployment for those who had finished their university courses also rose, but from 3.3% up to only 4.6%, providing a striking contrast compared to those who never entered higher education.

Further details from the Canadian census reveal that around 59% of women aged 25 to 34 without a high school diploma were in the labour force, which is defined as either employed or looking for work. In the same age group, the percentage of women who have a high school diploma stood at 74%, whilst 90% of women with a university degree or diploma were again employed or seeking employment.

The data may stem from widespread surveys conducted in the recent past, but the figures all confirm the theory that educational attainment has a significant and positive effect on one's employment prospects.

Writer:
Mario Cacciottolo
Corinne Kubota

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