Continuing full-time education beyond compulsory schooling

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the phenomenon of dropping out of school as soon as the minimum legal age (16 years old) is reached, its evolution over time and whether it affects specific social groups, using microdata from the Encuesta de Población Activa (Labour Force Survey), a quarterly source in which the same household is followed for up to six consecutive waves. Analysis was performed using the logistic regression technique (for dichotomous dependent variables) at four levels involving observations of individuals within their household context from 52 regions of Spain. Our analysis points to a steady increase in the proportion of pupils who continue in full-time education after the age of 16 and before reaching the legal age of majority (18). This only slowed down during school years that coincided with an improvement in the labour market. We also observed that the regions that are most favourable to low-skilled employment are those with the highest drop-out rates. Furthermore, we found that the migration status of individuals (in particular the age they arrive in Spain) is a key variable in the probability of them continuing in full-time education, whereas neither the person’s home situation nor the concentration of migrants in the region are significant. In short, neither gender nor social class were significant discriminating factors in school enrolment rates of 16 to 17-year-olds. However, the probability of this leading to successful completion of an intermediate level of education (baccalaureate or vocational training) has not yet been analysed.

Keywords: school enrolment rate, post-compulsory education, multilevel model, Spain, gender, generation, immigration.