The Impact of Primary and Secondary Education on Higher Education Quality

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The Impact of Primary and Secondary Education on
Higher Education Quality

• Katharina Michaelowa
• katja.michaelowa_at_pw.unizh.ch

• Hypotheses about the linkages between different
  levels of education
• Data and variables
• Some empirical evidence

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1. Potential linkages between educational levels

• Necessary conditions to generate a pool of well
  qualified tertiary students
• The enrolment link Enrolment at lower levels as
  a basis for tertiary enrolment
• The quality link Quality education at lower
  levels as a prerequisite of tertiary education
  quality
• The selectivity link Differentiation and
  selectiveness at lower levels and its impact
  on tertiary outcomes

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2. Data and variables

• General education data from UNESCO-UIS
• Economic control variables from WDI
• Indicators of education quality
• Secondary student achievement (PISA)
• Tertiary - international university rankings
  (Times and Shanghai, weighted)
• - number of researchers
• - number of patents

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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment
link (enrolment ? quality)
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment
link (enrolment ? quality)
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment
link (enrolment ? quality)
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3. Some empirical evidence3.1. The enrolment
link (enrolment ? quality)

• Similar or even stronger evidence with respect
  to secondary enrolment
• Relationship remains valid when controlling for
  GDP per capita

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3. Some empirical evidence3.2. The quality link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.2. The quality link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.2. The quality link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.2. The quality link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.2. The quality link
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3. Some empirical evidence3.3. The selectivity
link
Rho Coefficient of intra-class correlation high
Rho ? high student homogeneity within schools,
but high heterogeneity between
schools
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3. Some empirical evidence3.3. The selectivity
link
Note Bold figures indicate significance at the
at the 5 level.
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3. Some empirical evidence3.3. The selectivity
link
Gender effects and private schooling
Note Bold and underlined figures indicate
significance at the 1 level, bold figures
significance at the 5 level, and italics
significance at the 10 level
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4. Conclusions

• Minimum levels of enrolment at primary and
  secondary level as a necessary condition for
  functioning higher education (about 80
  primary for relevant university participation,
  about 80 secondary for potential to be listed
  in rankings etc.).
• Country variation indicates that, nevertheless,
  this is not a sufficient condition.
• Segregation between secondary schools appears to
  be detrimental to tertiary outcomes.
• Gender effects and effects of private schooling
  remain ambiguous.

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The Impact of Primary and Secondary Education on
Higher Education Quality

• Katharina Michaelowa
• katja.michaelowa_at_pw.unizh.ch