Are Poles satisfied with their education? Men yes, women want more

On average, every fourth adult Pole admits to having a lower level of education than the one he would like to be proud of.

Experts decided to check what determines the educational decisions of our society, what groups are at risk of educational exclusion and how education is related to the labor market.

See also: More than half of Poles have a job that is incompatible with their education

The study “Determinants of educational decisions” carried out by the Educational Research Institute in cooperation with the Institute of Statistics and Demography of the Warsaw School of Economics shows that the risk of the so-called subjective educational gap, it differs depending on the education, gender, age of the respondents and place of residence.

Women are more often dissatisfied with their education than men, younger more often than older ones, city dwellers more often than those living in the countryside. There was no correlation that the larger the city, the less often people are dissatisfied with what they have achieved in the field of education.

– These dependencies signal the importance of Poles’ educational aspirations for the sense of satisfaction with their education, because both women, younger people and city dwellers are characterized by relatively better education than men, the elderly, and rural residents, emphasizes Prof. Irena E. Kotowska, co-author of the research report.

The development of competences of individual people varies mainly with regard to the place of residence. A higher level of education, status on the labor market or household wealth affect both investing in their own development and in children’s competences.

Additionally, the availability of educational institutions increases with the size of the place of residence. The educational offer is richer in cities as compared to the countryside. This applies in particular to the availability of non-compulsory institutions: childcare for children up to 3 years of age, kindergartens and other pre-school education institutions, or various types of extracurricular activities.

See also: Does education really affect earnings?

There is a clear differentiation in the educational paths of people leaving their education before the transformation, that is, until 1989, during the transformation period, which took place in 1989–1999, and after 2000. These groups differ not only in the level of education achieved, but also in satisfaction with it and attitudes towards lifelong learning. The least satisfied are those who obtained their education before 1989, the most – those who obtained it after 2000.

Both the feeling of dissatisfaction with education and, above all, the actions taken to remedy it, i.e. taking up education in a formal system or as part of lifelong learning, indicate a possible deepening of differences not only between people who finished their education before 1989 and after 1989, but also between inhabitants of villages and small towns and inhabitants of other cities, as well as between men and women.

People with a higher level of education and those who are dissatisfied with their education more often decide to supplement or continue their education. Therefore, it is possible that the differences between them and the population groups with a low level of education and no educational aspirations, educationally passive, will increase. Working people and those looking for a new job are learning more often. However, mainly adult Poles do not feel the need to learn, it is the most frequently mentioned reason for the lack of educational activity.

Another reason that is mentioned is the lack of time, especially in the case of young people. This may indicate that in these groups of people there is a conflict between the realization of various life goals. The IBE survey shows that attitudes towards lifelong learning are rather stable: educationally active people in 2013, during the first round of the survey, were also active in 2014, while educationally passive people remained passive.

Both women and men indicated the desire to obtain a school leaving diploma as the most important reason for continuing education. Polish women rank second in finding a suitable school, while men indicate the will to improve their financial situation.

See also: Where do the lowest educated people pay?

Education affects your first contract with an employer. Over 40 percent people with at most primary education decided to take up their first job for employment in the shadow economy. However, 80 percent. people who completed their studies took their first job under a full-time contract. If they started employment before graduation, less than 20 percent. of them chose to work without a formal written contract.

Parents with higher education who live in cities more often send their children to various types of additional activities. Girls more often use activities related to school subjects or developing interests, while boys more often go to additional sports activities. Access to extracurricular activities is also greater in cities compared to rural areas.

Expenditure on education is incurred by almost all households. They differ mainly in terms of the level of education, the highest expenditure of households is related to higher education.