Skill Inequality Research Articles

Plugging in at school: Do schools nurture digital skills and narrow digital skills inequality?

Information and communication technology (ICT) have become indispensable in contemporary schools in post-industrialized countries. Whether schools have succeeded on vesting students with the needed digital skills important in today’s highly digitalized societal landscape however remains unclear. In this paper, we examine whether school resources in terms of ICT infrastructure, use of ICT in education, and availability of technical expertise are pertinent to students’ digital skillfulness. We also investigate whether such school ICT resources are unevenly distributed among students of different socioeconomic backgrounds, and whether students of different socioeconomic backgrounds unevenly benefit from these resources. In doing so, we illuminate school ICT resources’ role in the process of intergenerational transmission of inequalities. To test our expectations, we employ ICILS 2018 data on 14,183 students in 751 schools across seven OECD countries. Our findings indicate that schools indeed play a meaningful role in nurturing digital skills, namely through students’ use of ICT in educational tasks. We also find that students from more advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds more often attend well ICT-resourced schools, pointing at the uneven distribution of school ICT resources in a way that reflects social reproduction. Alongside that, the availability of technical expertise in schools seems particularly fruitful for low-SES students’ digital skills development. This evinces that schools compensate for limited ICT skills socialization in the family, pointing at social mobility processes.

Social inequality in skills: Exploring the moderating role of extracurricular activities related to socio‐economic differences in non‐cognitive and cognitive outcomes

AbstractEngaging in extracurricular activities is known to affect both cognitive and non‐cognitive outcomes, but there is social inequality in access to these activities. In this study, we examine the role of extracurricular activities in moderating the relationships between secondary school students' social background and their cognitive and non‐cognitive outcomes. Secondly, we examine variations in these relationships among three European cities that represent different educational systems in managing student heterogeneity. Based on the study findings, the effects of extracurricular activities on academic outcomes varied with regard to measured skills and the city of study. Extracurricular activities were related to enhanced interpersonal skills in all cities studied. However, in Turku and Ghent, extracurricular activities buffered the socio‐economic gradient in interpersonal skills, whereas in Barcelona, such activities increased it. Rather surprisingly, in all cities, engaging in extracurricular activities magnified the effect of socio‐economic status on cognitive skills.

Цифровые навыки участников образовательного процесса как фактор успешной интернет-коммуникации: отклик на книгу К.А. Милованова «IT-тренинг для преподавателей» (М.: Издание книг ком, 2020. — 192 с.)

The digital transformation of the science and higher education field is one of the priority tasks implemented by the Government of the Russian Federation. However, at this stage, there are a number of problems, including inequality of digital skills among members of the educational community, which leads to communication failures in the online space. The peer-reviewed educational publication “IT Training for Teachers” by K.A. Milovanov sets the goal of tamping down inequality in digital competences, knowledge and skills among participants in the educational process. The manual analyzes the issues of distance learning, choosing an online platform for conducting lectures and classes, data backup, and provides recommendations for the use of equipment and special applications for recording videos, making presentations and organizing interactive teaching activities, etc.

THE CONCEPT OF HABITUS IN THE RESEARCH OF DIGITAL DIVIDES AND INEQUALITIES

In the paper, we discuss the relevance of the concept of habitus, developed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in the research of social inequalities and divides in digital practices. We approach digitalisation as a field of practice and social inequality, in which social processes are deeply imbued with the mediation of technologies. We particularly emphasise dimensions and levels of digital inequalities and divides, including the first-level digital divide that points to Internet access, the second-level digital divide that aims to differentiate the binary inequalities of Internet access from inequalities in skills and uses, and the third-level digital divide that poses the question of inequalities in the outcomes of Internet use. We present relevant empirical studies, with the aim of testing our main hypothesis regarding the relevance of the concept of habitus as an adequate research tool in the field. We confirm the hypothesis, demonstrating that this concept has both theoretical and methodological significance in the research of digital divides and inequalities.

In the Same Boat? “Methodological Debate” in a Changing Empirical Fiel

The article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the methodological debate. This is a classic debate, which, however, should not be oversimplified: methods, paradigms, and research strategies form systems that go beyond the qualitative vs. quantitative dichotomy. The debate is in the center of attention, because, firstly, empirical texts are now written, read and cited more often than theoretical ones, secondly, new data and methods of their analysis appear, and thirdly, there is a simultaneous emergence of common ground and deepening methodological contradictions.One of the key differences between qualitative and quantitative proponents is the paradigms that underpin their work. However, the correspondence between the paradigm and the method is not always universal: for example, in qualitative methodology, both interpretive and post-positivist trends can be observed, and some quantitative researchers are close to the ideas of author's reflection and standpoint.Tools based on artificial intelligence can simplify the work of a researcher by solving some of the routine tasks, while the availability of big data allows you to go beyond survey and statistical databases and analyze new fields. However, the development of new tools leads to a number of problems. These are issues related to digital literacy and skills inequality, ethics and non-transparency of data production. Collaborative methodological work may be able to mitigate these kinds of difficulties and strengthen the position of sociology in an era of changing data and competing approaches.

The European skill space: a cross-country analysis of path-dependent capability development

ABSTRACT This study investigates the skill structures of European countries and their transformations from the perspective of capability development. The constructed skill space illustrates the skill sets of European nations based on product space methodology by linking skill occupation and occupation–country data from 2011 to 2018. The results show that there are remarkable differences in skill structures among countries, and there is a strong path dependence in skill development. The findings suggest that skill convergence is unlikely to occur and that skill inequality among countries requires serious consideration.

How Does Schooling Affect Inequality in Cognitive Skills? The View From Seasonal Comparison Research

A small subset of education studies analyzes school data collected seasonally (separating the summer from the school year). At first, this work was primarily known for documenting learning loss in the summers, but scholars have since recognized that observing how inequality changes between summer and school periods provides leverage for understanding how schools influence inequality. Results based on this analytic technique confirm current views in some ways, but in other ways the patterns challenge existing wisdom. For example, Black/White gaps in math and reading skills often grow faster when school is in versus out, consistent with the view that schools exacerbate racial inequality. But socioeconomic gaps produce the opposite pattern, suggesting that schools are compensatory across this dimension. In this review, I consider the logic behind seasonal research, the empirical patterns it has produced, and the kinds of new questions it motivates.

Формирование и развитие цифровой экономики на региональном уровне

Introduction. Researchers around the world are in search of new sources and drivers of economic development and growth. In this regard, digital economy is becoming one of the main internal factors stimulating the economic activity of the country and its regions. Therefore, its emergence, development and measurement are becoming a priority at present. Theoretical analysis. It is important to note that the formation and development of digital economy is associated with the main trends in economic development that have developed as a result of the third and fourth industrial revolutions. In this way, digital economy reflects the transition from the third to the fourth industrial revolution. Industrial revolutions are associated with a radical change in old technological modes and the emergence of completely new technologies that have a huge impact and contribute to the transformation of the economy and other areas. Empirical analysis. In the course of the study, the process of digital transformation was considered not only at the national level, but also at the level of the regions of the Russian Federation. It was revealed that digitalization within the country, in some regions, is extremely uneven. There is a small group of leading cities with a high level of digital development, and there are many regions that lag behind, in which the population has limited access to modern technologies. In addition to the gap in access to digital technologies and the Internet, there is an inequality in digital competencies, knowledge and skills of users, and ways of using technology. Results. In current reality, in order to ensure their development, competitiveness on the world stage, maintain sovereignty and national security, as well as to improve the standard of living and well-being of the population, states need to stimulate the digitalization of the economy and other spheres of society, approaching this comprehensively and systematically, develop roadmaps and national programs for the development of digital economy, follow their transition to digital economy and use foreign countries experience in the formation of its ecosystem. Their analysis will make it possible to compare and assess the level of digitalization in Russia, to develop recommendations for faster and higher quality digital development.

Vocational education and numeracy acquisition of young adults: A comparison of education systems in German and English speaking countries

AbstractThis study explores a pathway from social origin at adolescence to numeracy acquisition in young adulthood. A variation associated with vocational track attendance and numeracy acquisition between two different traditions of education systems is identified; namely, between education systems of German (Austria and Germany) and English (UK and US) speaking countries. Key results demonstrate that tracking at the level of upper and post‐secondary schooling is closely related to skills gaps that affect labour market outcomes. This implies that vocational programme graduates achieve comparatively weaker in numeracy tests in German‐speaking countries. In contrast, this effect of disadvantage in numeracy skills is not observed among young adults attending vocational tracks in English speaking countries. Also, the results suggest that a more stratified system might reinforce social inequality by increasing a skill gap in the use of numeracy in daily life. Drawing on empirical findings, the discussion underscores that policy interventions are necessary for mitigating the reproduction of skills inequality among young adults.

Jobless and Burnt Out: Digital Inequality and Online Access to the Labor Market

This article examines how inequalities in digital skills shape the outcomes of online job‐seeking processes. Building on a representative survey of Spanish job seekers, we show that people with high digital skill levels have a greater probability of securing a job online, because of their ability to create a coherent profile and make their application visible. Additionally, it is less probable that they will experience burnout during this process than job seekers with low digital skill levels. Given the concentration of digital skills amongst people with high levels of material and digital resources, we conclude that the internet enforces existing material and health inequalities.

The educational experiences of Indian children during COVID-19

We explore the educational experiences of Indian children during the COVID-19 pandemic, using time-use and household expenditure data from a panel of over 110,000 households with school-aged children. We find that both 12–18-year old's average learning time and their average households’ expenditure on education more than halved following the March 2020 school closures. Both had barely recovered by the end of 2021 throughout a period of phased but incomplete school reopenings. Interpreting the changed patterns of educational investments through a simple model of skill formation suggests skill inequalities between cohorts may increase, while implications for within-cohort inequalities are ambiguous. Children from households who experienced more-severe economic shocks during the pandemic saw larger losses in inputs although heterogeneity by socio-economic characteristics is more mixed. Overall, differences in losses across subgroups are dwarfed the average losses: every subgroup we analyze experienced average falls in learning time and educational expenditure, respectively, of at least 42 % and 60 %.

Socio-Economic Inequality in Young People’s Financial Capabilities

ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that the UK has low levels of financial literacy by international standards, particularly among those in lower socio-economic groups. This may have an impact upon young people, with social inequalities in financial attitudes, behaviours and skills perpetuating across generations. Using parent-child linked survey data from 3,745 UK families, we find sizeable socio-economic inequalities in young people’s financial capabilities, aspects of their mindset, and their financial behaviours. Sizeable differences are also observed in the financial education that socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged children receive at school, and how they interact with their parents about money. Parental interactions can account for part of the socio-economic gap in money confidence, money management, financial connections, and financial behaviours, but less so in boosting financial abilities. However, we find no evidence of differences in financial education in schools driving differences in young people’s financial capabilities.

What can parents do? The causal mediating role of parenting in explaining SES differences in children's language development

Objective: This study estimates how much of the differences by socioeconomic status (SES) in children’s language development are mediated by parenting styles, parenting practices, and parental investments. Background: There are large differences in children’s language development by parental socioeconomic status (SES). According to some studies, SES gaps in language skills among preschoolers could be reduced substantially by intervening in the parenting styles, practices, and parental investments of low-SES parents. However, the extent to which parenting mediates the effects on language skills of growing up in low-SES contexts is still unknown. Method: This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study starting cohort 1, a random sample of children born between 2012 and 2013 in Germany and employs interventional causal mediation analysis to estimate the mediated share of the total effect of SES on children’s language that goes through parenting, broadly understood. Results: Parenting explains around one-third of the total effect of SES on early language skills, but close to nothing of the effect on later language skills. Conclusion: Although a share of the SES effect operates through parenting, and all parenting dimensions affect children’s language skills, interventions in parenting would be limited in their ability to reduce the gap in substantial ways. Alternative pathways, through which inequality in language skills is reproduced, could potentially explain a larger share of this effect.

Inequality in literacy skills at kindergarten entry at the intersections of social programs and race

Substantial education policy research focuses on economic and racial/ethnic differences in academic achievement. While previous research explores the extent to which educational disparities exist by one of these margins, little work documents how academic achievement varies at the intersection of economic insecurity and racial/ethnic identity. Using child-level data from Virginia, we document differences at these intersections for children in kindergarten, focusing on the link between social program participation (TANF, SNAP, eligible for free/reduced-price school meals) and literacy and phonological awareness skills, attending to variation between programs and by race/ethnicity. We first compare children in households receiving no, and relatively low, medium, and high support, finding literacy and phonological awareness skills are greatest among children that do not participate in any of the three social programs considered, followed by those who are only eligible for free/reduced-price school meals, and then those who participate in SNAP, and finally those who participate in TANF. These differences are likely to reflect differences in household resources. The primary objective of our paper is to examine the extent to which race modifies the relationship between program participation and PALS scores, and we find that it does; Black and Asian children who participate in public supports typically outperform similar program-participating White children, with Hispanic children lagging further behind.

Цифровое неравенство как угроза и возможность при стратегировании развития сферы образования

Digital competence has been recognized in Europe as one of the 8 key competencies for lifelong learning. The problem of the digital divide as a binary division of the world population into those with and without access to the Internet is still relevant. However, even among the population provided with Internet access, significant differences persist, the so-called second-level digital divide. Digitalization brings enormous opportunities for the education sector with the constructive use of ICT, freeing up time, the most valuable resource in strategizing, from routine tasks to creative, innovative tasks. However, there are also certain threats when the power of this resource is “wasted” on tasks not related to acquiring knowledge and training skills. It seems appropriate, firstly, to develop ICT tools that can reduce the time spent on routine tasks by both teachers and students. Secondly, students need to be encouraged to use ICT regularly, as their intensive use for educational purposes (searching for bibliographic references, using translation software, etc.) leads to improved skills. Thirdly, special programs are needed to reduce the digital divide between students, overcoming both physical inequality (providing schoolchildren from low-income families with access to ICT, high-speed access to educational resources on the Internet) and inequality in skills of ICT usage in the learning process. Both opportunities and threats must be taken into account when strategizing the development of education according to the OTSW methodology proposed by Vladimir L’vovich Quint. At the same time, the human must be at the center of the educational strategizing process.

The Role of Early Schooling in Shaping Inequality in Academic, Executive Functioning, and Social-Emotional Skills

Children from historically marginalized racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, on average, score lower on widely used assessments of academic, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills at kindergarten entry, but the extent to which these differences are shaped by exposure to early schooling is unclear. Using data from a public prekindergarten and kindergarten program in Boston, we leverage a seasonal comparison design to examine how patterns change during the school year relative to summer periods. Although trends vary somewhat by the skill domain and groups compared, we largely find that exposure to early schooling is compensatory or neutral in shaping inequality. This suggests that prekindergarten and kindergarten together contribute to more equitable outcomes than would otherwise be expected in the absence of schooling. However, we find no evidence of systematic differences in access to high-impact classroom processes, which leaves open the question of which aspects of early schooling are most associated with declining inequality.

The effects of system type and characteristics on skills inequalities during upper secondary education: a quasi-cohort analysis of OECD data

ABSTRACT This article examines the effects of education system types and characteristics on changes in the distributions of literacy and numeracy skills during the upper secondary phase of education and training. Whereas there is a substantial literature on system effects on skills during the primary and lower secondary phases of education, much less has been written about these effects in relation to the upper secondary phase. This article reports on research using quasi-cohort data for 15-year-olds in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and 18- to 20-year-olds in the Survey of Adult Skills to test the effects of a range of system indicators on changes in skills distributions during the upper secondary phase. Consistent with some dominant theories, our difference-in-difference analysis identifies a range of system characteristics associated with skills inequality reduction in upper secondary education and training, which relate to ‘system standardisation’ and ‘parity of esteem’, and which can explain why some ‘system types’ are more effective than others in reducing skills inequality.

Foundational mathematics and reading skills of Filipino students over a generation

Children around the world largely rely on the formal education system to teach them foundational mathematics and reading skills. The inability of an education system to do so may indicate it has structural constraints. In this paper, we use three rounds of a nationally representative government-run household survey to examine trends in the mastery of foundational mathematics and reading skills among grades 4–10 students between 2003 and 2019 in the Philippines. We find that not all higher-grade students master the skills that are taught by grade 3. Comparing between cohorts, we find that foundational mathematics skills continued to decline between the 2003 and 2019 cohorts. Foundational reading skills, however, trended up among the early grades between 2013 and 2019 after stagnating between 2003 and 2013. The latter is suggestive evidence that major educational reforms implemented by the Philippine government since 2012 may have successfully improved reading skills but not mathematics skills. We also find that inequality in foundational skills by sex and wealth has decreased. Overall, the Philippine basic education system, building on its success in ensuring virtually all children attend elementary schools, still has ample room to ensure all students master foundational mathematics and reading skills.

Emerging Digital Inequalities: A Comparative Study of Older Adults’ Smartphone Use

Older adults are increasingly using smartphones. Researchers have identified demographic, attitudinal factors and social outcomes related to inequalities in access, skills, and activities of internet use. While this research has been ongoing for years, studies about the digital inequalities related to the use of smartphones by older adults are still scarce, and they rarely have undertaken sociocultural comparisons of usage. This article builds on an analysis of tracking data of older adults’ (pp. 55–79) smartphone use, to explore digital inequalities around traditional axes of inequality and sociocultural factors that shape older adults’ smartphone use. It adds a comparative perspective for understanding emerging inequalities related to sociocultural contexts to the existing literature. The results show that differences cannot be explained solely by sociodemographic factors, but also possibly by national policies and culture. Particularly, age, on its own, is not able to explain the differences reported. Older adults engage in a range of different activities on their smartphones, and differences between groups across the traditional axes of inequalities do not mirror exactly the differences found in previous research on internet use. This is important considering the risk of emerging new inequalities and the ongoing revisiting of policies to mitigate them.

The Effect of Labor Market Conditions at Entry on Workers' Long-Term Skills

Abstract Using data on adults' cognitive skills from nineteen countries, this paper shows that labor market conditions during the education-to-work transition affected workers' long-term skill development. Workers who faced higher unemployment rates at ages 18 to 25 have lower skills at ages 36 to 59. Unemployment rates at ages 26 to 35 do not have such an effect. Skill inequality is affected: those with less educated parents experience most of the negative effects. Using German panel data on skills, I document a mechanism related to heterogeneous skill development across firms: young workers at large firms experience higher skill growth than those at small firms.