The growing gap between post-secondary schooling and further education: findings of 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2016 surveys of the employed Canadian labour force

This article summarizes the findings of a 2016 national survey of the formal schooling, further education, and job-related informal learning of the employed Canadian labour force and compares the results with those of prior national surveys conducted in 1998, 2004, and 2010. The major finding is an unprecedented growing gap between increasing post-secondary school completion and decreasing participation in further education. This gap may have begun in a recessionary labour market but may now be driven by the increasing underemployment of the qualifications of post-secondary graduates who...  [+] Show more

This article summarizes the findings of a 2016 national survey of the formal schooling, further education, and job-related informal learning of the employed Canadian labour force and compares the results with those of prior national surveys conducted in 1998, 2004, and 2010. The major finding is an unprecedented growing gap between increasing post-secondary school completion and decreasing participation in further education. This gap may have begun in a recessionary labour market but may now be driven by the increasing underemployment of the qualifications of post-secondary graduates who find little added benefit to further education in their jobs. The incidence of job-related informal learning may also be declining. Age and economic class differences in schooling and further education appear to be narrowing in this context. Implications of the growing gap between advanced schooling and further education as well as the increasing incidence of underemployment are discussed.

Published abstract.