Have too many people been left behind, post-secondary?

Recent decades have seen significant policy success on increasing the numbers of young people attending and successfully completing higher education.

According to Education at a Glance 2020, across OECD countries 45% of 25- to 34-year-olds have participated in tertiary education compared with only 28.4% of 55- to 64-year-olds – although this varies across countries. This is likely to increase to 49% over the next few years.

Despite costs associated with participation, people with a tertiary qualification do better in the labour market and in life-chances over the longer term.

But what about the other 50% – have we given as much attention to (young) people who do not attend higher education?

You can read the full blog post at University World News.

Professor Ellen Hazelkorn

Professor Ellen Hazelkorn is Joint Managing Partner, BH Associates education consultants. She is Professor emeritus, Technological University Dublin (Ireland), and Joint Editor, Policy Reviews in Higher Education. She is a member of the CGHE Leadership Forum and Research Fellow, Centre for International Higher Education, Boston College. Ellen is, inter alia, a member of the Quality Board for Icelandic Higher Education, the EU Higher Education for Smart Specialisation (HESS) Advisory Group, and the Committee for Strategic Advice, EURASHE – the European Association of Institutions in Higher Education. She was a member of the Commission for the College of the Future (UK) and the Tertiary Education Future Initiative (Royal Society of Edinburgh & Young Academy of Scotland). She reviewed Post-Compulsory Education in Wales recommending the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER), now being established by the Welsh Government. Ellen Hazelkorn is a member of the CGHE Research Management Committee and a CGHE Co-Investigator on Project 6, ‘The impact of locality and region on university governance’.