Abstract
We examine the effect of university education on students' non-cognitive skills (NCS) using high-quality Australian longitudinal data. To isolate the skill-building effects of tertiary education, we follow the education decisions and NCS-proxied by the Big Five personality traits-of 575 adolescents over eight years. Estimating a standard skill production function, we demonstrate a robust positive relationship between university education and extraversion, and agreeableness for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The effects are likely to operate through exposure to university life rather than through degree-specific curricula or university-specific teaching quality. As extraversion and agreeableness are associated with socially beneficial behaviours, we propose that university education may have important non-market returns.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 538-562 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Oxford Economic Papers |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2018 |
Keywords
- Non cognitive skills
- University
- personality
- Human capital