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Education questions on the 2006 Census of Population: New questions for a new centuryIntroduction IntroductionIn May 2006 Canadians participated in an activity that has been taking place in this country for over 300 years, a Census of Population. The first census was conducted in 1666, when Jean Talon was the Intendant of Justice, Police, and Finance of what was then called New France. His tasks, as the representative of the King of France, were to stimulate the economic expansion of New France, increase the colony's self-sufficiency and bring order to its financial administration. Talon began his administrative appointment by taking stock of the colony. This included a systematic census in the winter of 1665-66.Talon's census recorded everyone in the colony by name and included age, sex, occupation, marital status, relationship to the head of the family in which they lived and where they lived. After collecting his statistics, Talon put them to work. He was responsible for everything from taxes to health, from bridge building to chimney sweeping, and his influence touched every facet of government, and of the day-to-day lives of colonists. He used knowledge gained from the census to develop the colony in many directions. Almost three and a half centuries later the census plays the same critical role in the development of Canada’s social, economic and demographic fabric. Today, information collected in the Census is an important tool used by governments, businesses, researchers and individual Canadians to identify and understand issues that are of concern to all. These include such central aspects of Canadian life as the family, education, employment, transportation, housing, immigration and income, to name a few.Education information in the CensusEducation data was first collected in the 1827 Census of Lower Canada and the 1842 Census of Upper Canada. The data consisted of counts of schools and pupils. In 1871 respondents aged 20 years or more were asked if they could read or write. In 1941 the census introduced a question on completed years of schooling and in 1971 new questions asked for details on post-secondary education.Today, education and educational attainment are seen to be closely related to both the quality of life of Canadians (in such areas as income, work, health and participation in the community) and the knowledge and skills available in the Canadian labour force. Census education data are widely used by federal departments and agencies, provincial and territorial governments, municipalities, educational institutions, researchers, and academics. This information feeds both labour market analysis and education-planning needs. Researchers also turn to the census for information on the educational characteristics of immigrants, Aboriginal peoples, official language minorities, and other groups that draw policy attention. The education questions in the Census of Population have remained relatively stable for many years. However, major changes have been taking place in the structure of the education system in Canada, and in the educational participation and attainment levels of Canadians. Furthermore, education is playing an increasing role in determining individuals’ labour market outcomes and there is growing interest over the links between immigration, education, and the labour market participation patterns of immigrants.Canada-wide consultations with users of census education data, held over the last few years, indicated that some of the education data were not as pertinent today as they once had been. And that there were new and emerging education issues that were not being addressed in the census questions. Qualitative testing also showed some questions were not as reliable as they had been in the past. As a consequence of these processes a comprehensive review and up-dating of the census education content was undertaken. The objective was to ensure that the questions asked on education were relevant to today’s education realities and collected the most useful information possible. New education questions for the 2006 Census of PopulationThe new education questions in the Census address issues of relevance and data quality and modify the data to reflect the education context at the beginning of the 21st century. A further result of the revisions is the collection of new information that will support analysis of a number of emerging issues, relating to immigration, for example, and to inter-provincial flows of individuals with different levels of educational attainment.Updating the education module also meant that some questions would necessarily no longer be included in the Census. In some cases, that was because a new question increased the precision of the information that was collected (replacing years of schooling with credentials earned, for example). In other cases, the same information was already available from other Statistics Canada data sources (the Labour Force survey for data on individuals with some postsecondary education and on full-time/part-time student status). The following is a summary of the changes that have taken place in the education questions in the Census. (Links to the 2001 and 2006 Census questions appear at the end of this article).Increased detail on completed qualifications especially for postsecondary non-university educationThe major change to the Census questions reflects a shift in focus from years of schooling to completed credentials. While both measures are important to advanced statistical analysis, covering both issues in a Census would necessitate a longer series of questions. This raised issues of respondent burden and accompanying issues of data quality.The emphasis is now on earned credentials for the following reasons. The education profile of the Canadian population changed considerably in the second half of the 20th century. According to the 1951 Census, 1.9% of the population had a completed educational qualification beyond high school. By 2001 this had risen to 51% for the population aged 15 and older. With more and more of the population obtaining credentials beyond high school it is the appropriate time to shift the detailed questions to the post-secondary level. As well, research (Ferrer and Riddell, 2002 ) has shown that the importance of credentials increases with educational attainment, citing the work of other researchers who point to the sorting role of education in the labour market. The argument here is that employers use program completion to screen for unobserved characteristics such as perseverance. The new questions increase the detail on Registered Apprenticeship and Trade certificates and diplomas which have been split into separate response items. College certificates and diplomas have been divided into separate program durations. This will help identify populations who have taken college programs that do or do not require high school completion. The detail at the university level (with 6 response categories) already existed and has been retained.Removal of years of schooling questionsWhile recognizing the importance of the years of schooling variable (as a continuous variable) to advanced statistical analysis, some of the years of schooling questions in the 2001 Census are not as pertinent today as they were when they were instituted as part of the census education questions. In 2001, 75% of the population aged 15 and older had completed high school, and of those who had not completed high school the majority (60%) were over the age of 50 and about 75% had completed at least grade 10. This made information on the years of schooling at the elementary level redundant and shifted the focus to high school completion.In addition, qualitative testing of the years of schooling questions revealed that respondents were often confused on whether to report the number of years it actually took them to complete their program or how long it would normally take to complete the program as a full-time student. This was particularly true at the post-secondary level where students can combine full-time and part-time attendance, or have extended periods of non-attendance, before a program is completed. Alternative approaches are available to address the need for years of schooling information while permitting a focus on completed credentials in the census questions. The inherent variability in program length among those with non-university postsecondary education is addressed in the new questions by directly obtaining information on program length in the college program question. In the case of university credentials, external information on average number of years for completion could be created as a proxy measure since years of schooling clusters around type of university credential (at three and four years for a Bachelor’s degree, two years for a Master’s degree). This is the approach taken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for example, which estimates the ‘typical’ number of years required to complete given programs of study based on information provided by various countries.A change in focus in the school attendance questionThe school attendance question in the 2001 and earlier censuses asked if the respondent had attended school on a full-time or part-time basis at any time since the previous September. The variety of attendance patterns possible today made it difficult for respondents to fit themselves into the full-time, part-time response categories, especially given the nine-month reference period. There also appeared to be significant under-reporting of school attendance by young people, particularly 15-year-olds.By comparison, the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which also targets the population aged 15 and older, asks respondents if they attended school on a full-time or part-time basis with a reference period of last week. This survey is conducted every month of the year and is seen as a more appropriate vehicle to address the complex school attendance patterns that are possible today. The structure of the LFS and its monthly collection cycle can more accurately portray shifts between full-time, part-time and non-attendance at school. With changes to the structures of the educational system (colleges offering university transfer programs for example) the educational pathway to completion has become an important issue in terms of both access and persistence at the post-secondary level. The new focus on type of school attended in the school attendance question allows for the identification of educational pathways in light of previous qualifications for both Canadian born and immigrant populations.Collection of information on location where highest level of education was completed:The Canada-wide consultations also indicated that it was important to understand national and international flows of the population with education beyond high school. This is particularly true with increasingly highly qualified Canadian-born and immigrant populations. The argument is made in the literature that highly educated and skilled people are very mobile. Adding information on province/territory/country where the highest education credential was earned allows the scope of analysis to be widened. For example, are some provinces net gainers from inter-provincial flows of highly educated and skilled workers? What are the educational characteristics of immigrants who completed their studies outside Canada? Has there been successful integration of immigrants who have completed their education and training in other countries into the Canadian labour market? How do their employment patterns vary and is there evidence of barriers to the recognition of foreign credentials?A new field of study classification systemThe major field of study classification system which has been used to code field of study in the census since 1986 has become dated over time and does not provide sufficient detail on emerging disciplines. In 1998, Statistics Canada adopted the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) as the standard field-of-study classification system. CIP was originally developed by the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Since the mid-1980s, CIP has been the accepted U.S. Government statistical standard on program classification. Statistics Canada’s decision to adopt the CIP was based on the comprehensiveness and detail of the CIP, its relevancy for newly emerging fields of study, and the potential it offered for enhancing data comparability between the U.S. and Canada. Revisions made to the CIP in the year 2000 reflect content provided by Statistics Canada’s Centre for Education Statistics.The usefulness of this expanded field of study information will also be greatly increased by having the ability to link field of study with the expanded details on credentials earned, particularly at the postsecondary non-university level. Will the changes to the questions have an impact on comparing Census information on education in Canada over time?The changes to the education module have been numerous and will have some impact on historical comparisons in the education subject areas. The level of impact will be assessed once the 2006 data has been processed. A technical report outlining the impact of the changes for each of the education variables and where historical comparisons can and can not be made will accompany the release of Education data from the 2006 Census (March 4, 2008).2006 Census of Population – Release TimetableReleases from the 2006 Census of Population will be presented by subject area beginning in the winter of 2007. The Education release will be available in March 2008.
2001 questionnaire (see questions 26 to 31 of the 2B long form) 2006 questionnaire (see questions 26 to 32 of the 2B long form)For further information on the Census education module, please contact: Centre for Education Statistics Client ServicesTel: 1-800-307-3382 (In National Capital Region) 1-613-951-7608 E-Mail educationstats@statcan.gc.ca |
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