Who is really ‘left behind’? Half a century of gender differences in the school-to-work transitions of low-educated youth

Abstract

At a time of growing expectations about educational attainment, young people who did not complete upper-secondary schooling can easily be 'left behind' to face risks of social exclusion. Being able to make a rapid and successful transition into a first significant job is crucial for long-term labor-market attachment. We approach the question of continuity or change in school-towork transitions by comparing the experiences of four birth cohorts of early school leavers in Italy, where they still constitute a sizeable group as of today. Italy makes for an interesting case study due to the length of school-to-work transitions and the extent of gender differences in this phase. In an era of educational expansion and increased female activation, studying changes in low-educated women's labor-market access brings into focus the question of who is really left behind. Using data from the 2009 'Multi-purpose Survey on Household and Social Subjects,' we use discrete time logistic regression models to estimate the probability of transitioning to the first significant job for early school leavers born between 1954 and 1993. We find that gender differences are strikingly persistent across birth cohorts, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables as well as for time-varying fertility and partnership histories.

Immigration Background and Differences in School-to- work Trajectories of Early School Leavers

“…In fact, gender was the most important predictor of being or not being in the career trajectory, but also the most important predictor of being or not being in the precarity trajectory. This is in line with results from other countries, reporting that female early school leavers struggle more than male early school leavers in the labor market (Dorsett & Lucchino 2014;Achatz et al 2020;Struffolino & Borgna 2020).…”

“…Women are generally found to be over-represented in negative school-to-work trajectories and under-represented in more career-oriented trajectories (Dorsett & Lucchino 2014;Achatz et al 2020;Vogt et al 2020). These gender differences in labor-market entry after early school leaving led Struffolino and Borgna (2020) to conclude that, despite the great concerns expressed over low-achieving boys in the public debate, girls who leave school early are the ones who are really left behind. Such gendered patterns are also found in Sweden.…”

“…Both program choices at upper secondary level and the rates of early school leaving consequently differ by gender. School-to-work transitions among early school leavers, on the other hand, are typically swifter for men than for women (Albaek et al 2015;Struffolino & Borgna 2020). Gender is consequently an important factor in the trajectories of early school leavers.…”

Educational Aspirations and Attainments : How resources relate to outcomes for children of immigrants in disadvantaged Swedish schools

“…Like previous studies, I also found gender to be a major predictor of school leavers' school-to-work trajectories (Achatz, Jahn, and Schels 2020;Dorsett and Lucchino 2014;Struffolino and Borgna 2020). In fact, gender was the single most important predictor of being in the career trajectory cluster, making the career trajectory a predominantly male, and non-migrant trajectory.…”

An endogenous analysis of early school leaving in Spain: The role of gender and regional inequalities

“…Indeed, some countries have experienced a reversed gender gap, with girls being less prone to suffer from school failure and early school leaving and registering better educational results (Borgna & Struffolino, 2017; Buchmann et al., 2008). Despite the notable improvement in women's educational results, the consequences of early school leaving and the influence of the labour market still lead to inequality between the genders (Struffolino & Borgna, 2021).…”