The Impact of Skills on Life Chances and Social Mobility for Adults Around the World

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This session examines various aspects of skills formation, skills inequality and the association between skills and labour market and other social outcomes. For this purpose Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) offers the potential of generating novel insights. Papers in this session take advantage of PIAAC and examine from a cross-country perspective 1) the evolution of skills inequality and its impact on social mobility; 2) the impact of education policy in enhancing the role of schools in contributing to skill formation; 3) the interplay between skills and migration and lastly 4) how to rank countries in terms of educational poverty given the diversity of distributions of levels of skills competencies across countries.

Sub Unit

• International Relations Committee

Chair

• Pablo Zoido, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Papers

• Inequality Trends in Adult Skills: Evidence From the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey, International Adult Literacy Survey, and Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies - Anna K. Chmielewski, OISE/University of Toronto

• The Long Shadow: The Relationship of Family Background to Skills and Adult Outcomes - Henry I. Braun, Boston College

• Emigrants From Great Britain: What Do We Know About Their Lives? - John Jerrim, Institute of Education - University of London

• Educational Poverty: An International Perspective From the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies - Antonio Villar, Pablo de Olavide University