The Effect of Education and Work Pathways on Reading Proficiency

This chapter discusses the paths young people choose towards entering further education or the labour force and their relation to skills and skills gains. Those who completed university education tended to have high PISA scores when they were 15 and they continued to have a considerable advantage at age 24 over those who did not follow this pathway. However, young people whose highest educational attainment was high school still acquired reading skills after the age of 15 – and these skills were acquired at similar or faster rates than those acquired by university-educated young adults. Meanwhile, work experience appears to play only a minor role in learning gains after the age of 15. Other life transitions, like moving out of the parental home and marriage, are also examined. The role of active self-determination appears to be a critical factor for explaining differences in skills gains across these life transitions.