Yuliya Kosyakova

Gender and job-related non-formal training: A comparison of 20 countries:

This article analyses gender differences in the participation in various types of job-related non-formal training in 20 societies and examines the relationship of these gender differences with country-specific institutional settings such as employment protection, family policies and the gender culture. Using data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and applying two-step multilevel regression analyses, two main findings are obtained: First, gendered participation clearly differs among training types, with women being less likely to participate in employer-financed training but more likely to participate in non-employer-sponsored training. These gender differences in training participation are crucial because they are likely to shape men’s and women’s career development in different ways, that is, by providing better future career prospects with the current employer for men and with a new employer for women. Second, country-specific settings can reduce gender differences in training participation: in countries with family policies supporting females’ employment (e.g. good coverage of formal childcare and short parental leave), we found a lower training disadvantage of women in employer-financed training. In turn, gender differences in non-employer-sponsored training seem to be lower in countries with less rigid employment protection.

Does adult education contribute to securing non-precarious employment? A cross-national comparison

The objective of this article is to analyse the effect of acquiring a new formal qualification as an adult (measured as an upgrade or a side-step) on the likelihood of being in non-precarious employment. Three countries with similar longitudinal datasets are compared: Spain, the UK and Russia. The results indicate that adult education is beneficial in the three countries; with differences, however, depending on the definition of precarious employment used and the (previous) employment status of individuals. The findings suggest that the differences among countries are related to different labour market structures: adult education has a clearer beneficial impact on accessing and remaining in non-precarious employment in more flexible employment systems than in more rigid insider-outsider economies, where labour trajectories are strongly determined by what happens during the first years after school.

Gender Inequalities at Labour Market Entry: A Comparative View from the eduLIFE Project ☆

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the results from a cross-nationally comparative project analysing gender differences and inequalities at labour market entry. Women’s relative gains in educational attainment and the expansion of the service sector suggest that gender inequalities in occupational returns are diminishing or even reversing. In assessing gender differences at labour market entry, we look at a phase of the life course when women’s family roles are still of minor importance. Conceptually, we distinguish between horizontal segregation and inequalities in vertical outcomes. The project was based on 13 in-depth case studies contributed by a network of scholars analysing countries with different institutional, socio-economic and cultural settings. The findings demonstrate that occupational gender segregation is still relatively marked among recent cohorts, though it is slightly decreasing over time in several countries. In terms of vertical inequalities, the case studies consistently revealed that while women enter more prestigious jobs than men in most countries, there is a female disadvantage in economic returns among recent labour market entrants. In addition, we found mixed evidence on the variations of gender equality at labour market entry across countries with different institutional characteristics.

Slipping Past the Test: Heterogeneous Effects of Social Background in the Context of Inconsistent Selection Mechanisms in Higher Education

In this article, we analyze how the existence of alternative pathways to higher education, which implies different selection mechanisms, shapes social inequality in educational attainment. We focus on the Russian educational system, in which higher education can be accessed from academic and vocational tracks, but the rules of admission to higher education from these tracks are different. Access through the academic track is highly selective due to obligatory high-stakes testing, which determines secondary-school graduates’ eligibility to pursue higher education. The vocational track is generally less selective with regard to student intake and provides less restrictive access to higher education. We argue that this system has nuanced implications for social inequality. On one hand, transitions from vocational education to higher education can promote greater social mobility by offering an affordable and low-risk gateway to higher education for children from less-advantaged families. On the other hand, more-advantaged families might use the vocational track to higher education if their children face a high risk of failure in the more selective academic track. We test this conjecture and provide supporting evidence using data from the longitudinal survey Trajectories in Education and Careers.