Digest of Education Statistics 1996 / Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Outcomes of Education

This chapter contains tables comparing educational attainment and work force characteristics. The data show labor force participation and income levels of high school dropouts and high school and college graduates. Population characteristics are provided for many of the measures to help evaluate disparities among various demographic groups. The first set of tables contains data from the Bureau of the Census on educational attainment and income of the labor force, and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on employment and unemployment. These tables provide information on the educational attainment of the labor force, by occupation, sex, and race/ethnicity; income, by level of education attained; and unemployment rates, by levels of education attained, sex, and race/ethnicity.

The second group of tables was compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics data on high school dropouts and graduates. These data show the labor force participation and college enrollment of high school students within the year after they leave school. The tabulations also provide comparative labor force participation and unemployment rates for graduates and dropouts. Additional information on college enrollment rates by race/ethnicity and sex have been included to help form a more complete picture of high school outcomes.

The third set of tables has been prepared from the National Center for Education Statistics survey, Recent College Graduates, and from a Bureau of the Census survey on earnings and education. These tables provide data on employment outcomes for high school and college graduates. A table provides a salary comparison by field of college degree for the entire population. Trends in salaries received by college graduates also are featured in this section.

Statistics on educational attainment of the entire population are in Chapter 1. More detailed data on the number of high school and college graduates are contained in Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 3 contains trend data on the proportion of high school graduates going to college. Additional data on the income of persons by educational attainment may be obtained from the Bureau of the Census in the Current Population Reports, Series P-60. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a series of publications dealing with the educational characteristics of the labor force. Further information on survey methodologies is in the "Guide to Sources" in the appendix and in the publications cited in the source notes.

Opinions

One life goal consistently rated "very important" by young men and women was "being successful in work." A survey of 1992 high school seniors found that 89 percent of the men and 90 percent of the women rated "being successful in work" as a "very important goal." Two of the other most highly rated goals in the 1992 survey were "finding steady work" ("very important" for 87 percent of men and 89 percent of women) and "having strong friendships" ("very important" for 80 percent of both men and women). Two years later in 1994, these values continued to be highly rated by the former high school seniors. Another value that was highly rated two years after high school was "Providing better opportunities for my children" which was cited by 91 percent of the seniors as "very important." (table 371).

Labor Force

Adults with higher levels of education were more likely to participate in the labor force than those with less education. About 81 perce