Educational progress – The Need for an European Education Panel Study (EEPS) Heike Solga Meeting “Exploring possibilities for the development of European data infrastructures for research in the social sciences”, June 23, 2010, London

2 Deficits for European education research —Knowledge about 1.individuals’ educational trajectories and patterns of school-to-work transition, 2.the causes and consequences of individuals’ educational decisions and pathways, 3.the impact of education, vocational training, higher education, and labour market institutions on individuals’ life courses is very underdeveloped.

3 Deficits for European education research —several well-known national cohort studies —Not comparable in terms of 1.questionnaire, 2.cohorts chosen, 3.phases of the educational career covered, 4.sampling procedures, and 5.other methodological standards. —Many of the “old” and “new” EU member states do not even have longitudinal cohort studies. —Many other data sets available do not provide measures on competencies and detailed information on educational episodes.

4 Scientific value of an European Education Panel Study (EEPS) —… would mark a milestone for interdisciplinary educational and labour market research. —It would nurture causal knowledge on 1.individual development and attainment growth over individuals’ educational career, and 2.their connection to family environments and institutional settings. —EEPS would facilitate research on 1.competence growth and the link between competence and credentials over the educational career, 2.the impact of social origin on educational pathways and outcomes, 3.comparative research on patterns of labour market entry 4.the impact of cognitive and non-cognitive competences and credentials on labour market outcomes and returns to education.

5 NEPS as a Blue-Print or “Model” for an EEPS —NEPS = „National Education Panel Study” in Germany —Coordination: Hans-Peter Blossfeld (University of Bamberg) —Started in 2008, first data collection in 2010 —Funded by the Ministry of Education (BMBF) – so far until End 2013, about 80 Mio. EUR —About target persons plus parents, teachers, heads of school

6 —28 participating institutions across Germany — including about 170 researchers —from sociology, psychology, educational sciences and economics Berlin Freie Universität MPIfB WZB Dresden TU Dresden Nürnberg IAB Leipzig Universität Dortmund IFS Göttingen Universität Tübingen Universität Siegen Universität München DJI ifo LMU BAMBERG Universität INBIL Kiel IPN Universität Gießen Universität Hannover HIS Universität Hamburg Universität HAW Mannheim Universität ZEW IFP ifb DIPF Frankfurt DIPF Bonn BIBB NEPS Network of Excellence

7 P ILLAR 1P ILLAR 2 P ILLAR 3P ILLAR 4P ILLAR 5 COMPETENCE DEVELOP- MENT LEARNING ENVIRON- MENTS E DUCATIONAL D ECISIONS M IGRATION B ACKGROUND R ETURNS TO E DUCATION A DMINISTRATION A ND CENTRAL COORDINATING DEPARTMENT OF THE N EPS AT THE I NSTITUTE FOR E DUCATIONAL L ONGITUDINAL R ESEARCH B AMBERG (INBIL) M ETHODS D EPARTMENT U SER S ERVICE, S URVEY M ANAGEMENT, D ATA W AREHOUSE

8 P ILLAR 1P ILLAR 2 P ILLAR 3P ILLAR 4P ILLAR 5 S TAGE 8 ADULT EDUCATION AND LIFE-LONG LEARNING S TAGE 7 FROM HIGHER EDUCATION TO THE LABOR MARKET S TAGE 6 FROM THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING TO THE LABOR MARKET S TAGE 5 FROM LOWER TO UPPER SEC. SCHOOL/TRAINING/LABOR MARKET S TAGE 4 S TAGE 3 FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL S TAGE 2 FROM KINDERGARTEN TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL S TAGE 1 FROM BIRTH TO KINDERGARTEN COMPETENCE DEVELOP- MENT LEARNING ENVIRON- MENTS E DUCATIONAL D ECISIONS M IGRATION B ACKGROUND R ETURNS TO E DUCATION A DMINISTRATION A ND CENTRAL COORDINATING DEPARTMENT OF THE N EPS AT THE I NSTITUTE FOR E DUCATIONAL L ONGITUDINAL R ESEARCH B AMBERG (INBIL) M ETHODS D EPARTMENT U SER S ERVICE, S URVEY M ANAGEMENT, D ATA W AREHOUSE FROM UPPER SEC. SCHOOL TO HIGHER EDUCATION/VOC. TRAINING

9 Age YJ:Years in the Job 68 VOC:Vocational Training 67 AY:Academic Year 66 BA:Bachelor 65 MA:Master 64 GR:Grade KIG:Kindergarten I:Infants 4.AY 3.AY 2.AY 251.AY 24MA5.YJ 235.AY4.YJ5.AY 22BA3.YJ4.AY 213.AY2.YJ3.AY 202.AY1.YJ2.AY1.YJ 191.AYVOC1.AYVOC1.AY 18VOC13.GRVOC13.GR 17VOC12.GRVOC12.GR 16VOC11.GRVOC11.GR 1510.GR 149.GR 138.GR 127.GR 116.GR 105.GR 94.GR 83.GR 72.GR 61.GR 5KIG Y 22.5 Y 11.5 Y 00.5 Y Year Further Education + Tertiary Education Upper Secondary School Lower Secondary School Elementary School Kindergarten Infants Refreshing Refreshing Multi-Cohort Sequence design of NEPS

10 Refreshing Further Education + Tertiary Education Upper Secondary School Lower Secondary School Elementary School Kindergarten Infants Multi-Cohort Sequence design for an EEPS

Thank you for your attention! Further information:

12 Starting cohortNo. of institutions No. of persons Respondents Early child development-3,000child, mother Kindergarten Elementary School Special education schools ,000 8,250 1,000 child, parents, kindergarten teachers, students, parents, teachers, principals 5th grade Special education schools ,500 1,100 students, parents, teachers, principals 9th grade Special education schools ,000 1,000 students, parents, teachers, principals Academic track[4,500]students, parents, teachers, principals Vocational track-[10,500]students Tertiary education35015,000students Further education and life-long learning -13,000adults Starting cohorts, respondents and sample sizes