Research Areas > Transitions to Adulthood > Schooling

TRANSITIONS TO ADULTHOOD
Schooling

In recent years, the Population Council’s program of research on transitions to adulthood has given special attention to schooling. Formal schools are the primary setting in which most young people acquire the productive skills needed for adulthood. In addition, the school is the most important institution outside the family involved in socializing young people into all dimensions of adult roles and responsibilities.

More years of schooling have been associated with many positive outcomes, including later ages of marriage, lower fertility, and healthier and better-educated children. Much less is known about the implications of variations in the quality of schooling for various reproductive outcomes.

Girls' school attendance as a percentage of boys' attendance by age: Regional averages

Council research on schooling explores school factors affecting enrollment and retention decisions, in particular school access and various aspects of school quality. A particular focus is gender differences in school experiences, including teacher attitudes about the capabilities of boys and girls and differential classroom dynamics. Council research has also explored which aspects of schooling, including the implementation and quality of life-skills programs, may be associated with later sexual initiation and more responsible sexual behavior.

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This page updated
16 June 2009


    

What's New

The December 2008 Studies in Family Planning is a special issue devoted to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the three sections of this issue, “Schooling and Adolescent Sexual Behavior,” considers the complex interplay between premarital sex, pregnancy, and schooling. (more)

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Publications/Resources

"Educational inequalities in the midst of persistent poverty: Diversity across Africa in educational outcomes" (abstract) (PDF)

"The implications of changing educational and family circumstances for children's grade progression in rural Pakistan: 1997–2004" (2009) (abstract)

"Education during humanitarian emergencies: The situation of displaced children and youth in Darfur, Sudan" (2009) (PDF)

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