Returns to vocational education. Evidence from Poland

Vocational education in upper-secondary school has been perceived for many years as being inferior to general education, in spite of the fact that vocational education graduates enjoy a faster transition from school to work and are more likely to have a permanent first job. As a consequence of the reform of the educational system that took place in Poland in 1999, the enrolment ratio in vocational schools has fallen dramatically. The empirical evidence in the literature on the returns to vocational education is limited. This study fills that gap and looks into wage premium for workers with vocational education in Poland before and after the reform of the educational system. The relative returns to different types and levels of education were estimated using a standard Mincerian wage equation framework. The empirical analysis concentrated on a comparison of the relative benefits of vocational and non-vocational education. The results showed that vocational education graduates have, on average, a higher probability of finding a permanent job, and secondary-vocational education graduates receive higher earnings than secondary general education graduates in Poland. However, wages of vocational education graduates are lower than those of secondary general education. In spite of this, the decreasing number of vocational education graduates post-reform has contributed to reducing this gap.