A report looked at what influenced the choice of postgraduate study, study experiences and labour market outcomes, and the value of studying beyond a first degree.
Source: Linda Barber, Emma Pollard, Bridget Millmore and Vania Gerova, Higher Degrees of Freedom: The value of postgraduate study, Report 410, Institute for Employment Studies, available from BBCS (01482 224626)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Sep
A report said that getting involved in adult learning could lessen the stresses of bringing up children and help people to be better parents, whether or not the courses had anything to do with parenting.
Source: Tom Schuller, John Preston, Cathie Hammond, Angela Brasset-Grundy and John Bynner, The Benefits of Learning: The impact of education on health, family life and social capital, RoutledgeFalmer (020 7583 9855)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A literature review examined the impact of vocational qualifications. The research-based literature was found to be 'thin', reflecting the invisibility of vocational education and the work-based pathways more generally. There was also an absence in the literature of either a clear view of policy, or any coherent theoretical view, with regard to the role of vocational qualifications.
Source: Lorna Unwin, Alison Fuller, Jill Turbin and Michael Young, What Determines the Impact of Vocational Qualifications?: Literature review, Research Report 522, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
A paper said that the economic returns to the key academic qualifications were very similar for men and women, being around 26 per cent for a first degree, 16 per cent for two or more A levels, and 27-29 per cent for five or more 'good' (grade C or above) GCSEs. There had been virtually no change in the estimated returns to most qualifications over the time period considered (1993-2002). An exception seemed to be GCSE qualifications at grades D and below, the returns to which seemed to be falling - to zero in the case of women. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education; A = Advanced)
Source: Steven McIntosh, Further Analysis of the Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications, Discussion paper 35, Centre for the Economics of Education/London School of Economics (020 7955 7285)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan
