Leaving School - Results From a National Survey Comparing School Leavers and High School Graduates 18 to 20 Years of Age - January 1995
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3. Who Are the Leavers?
Introduction
A number of socio-economic factors are associated with the likelihood that individuals will leave school before they graduate. These factors include family structure, marital status, and family responsibilities; parents' education and occupation; geographic location (urban or rural); cultural characteristics such as language and immigration status; and whether or not they have physical disabilities. The background characteristics of leavers, in fact, differed from those of their contemporaries who were high school graduates. Moreover, the combination of several characteristics seems to be associated with a heightened risk of leaving school before graduation. Knowing which groups exhibit a high risk of leaving school prematurely may aid in the development of dropout prevention programs.
Family Structure
The family may provide a stable environment for children, which promotes learning. And indeed, the family situations of leavers and graduates differed sharply.
Most individuals reported that during their last year of school they had lived in a two-parent family. Overall, a relatively small minority of students had lived in lone-parent (15%) or no-parent (7%) families.34 However, students from these family situations were far more likely to be leavers than were those from two-parent households. Fully 25% of leavers had been in lone-parent families, double the proportion for graduates (12%) (Chart 3-1). Similarly, 13% of leavers had not lived with either parent during their last year of school, compared with only 5% of graduates.
Chart 3-1
Family Structure
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
The influence of family structure on school leaving differed for men and women. Women from two-parent or lone-parent families had substantially lower leaver rates than did their male counterparts. By contrast, the leaver rate for women in no-parent families was virtually the same as that for men in similar circumstances, and far exceeded the rates for women in other family situations (Chart 3-2). This high leaver rate for women in no-parent families may reflect the presence of dependent children. In fact, close to a third (29%) of women from no-parent families had children, compared with 8%* of women from lone-parent families, and 4% of those from two-parent families.
Chart 3-2
Leaver Rates by Family Structure and Gender
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
Marriage and Dependent Children
Both marital status and dependent children have a dramatic effect on school leaving, especially among women. Household responsibilities, notably child care, are not conducive to the completion of high school studies. Not surprisingly, leavers were much more likely than graduates to be married or to have dependent children.35
In 1991, 22% of female leavers were or had been married, compared with just 5% of female graduates (Chart 3-3). The corresponding proportions were lower among men, but the discrepancy persisted: 9% of male leavers, but only 2% of male graduates, were or had been married.
Similarly, much higher proportions of leavers than graduates had dependent children. While more than a quarter (27%) of female leavers had dependent children, this was the case for only 4% of their graduate counterparts. Far fewer men than women had children, but again, there was a difference between leavers and graduates: 7% of male leavers versus a negligible 1% of male graduates (Chart 3-4).
Chart 3-3
Marital Status
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
Parents' Attitudes and Socio-Economic Background
The attitudes toward schooling, levels of education, and occupations of their parents are all associated with the likelihood that students will leave school before graduation.
According to SLS respondents, the vast majority (93%) of all parents considered high school completion to be "very important." Nonetheless, the small minority who did not value high school completion seemed to have a considerable influence on their children's educational decisions. Almost half (49%) of students who said their parents did not consider high school completion very important, were leavers. On the other hand, just 14% of those who said their parents valued high school completion, had left before graduation.
Chart 3-4
Dependent Children
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
The parents' own education was also related to the proportions of 18-20-year-olds who were leavers or graduates. Leavers were more likely than graduates to have parents with relatively little formal education (Chart 3-5). For instance, 45% of leavers, compared with 32% of graduates had parents with a "low" level of educational attainment.36 On the other hand, just 9% of leavers but 24% of graduates had parents with "high" attainment.
As well, the percentage of leavers who did not know their parents' level of education was double that for graduates (27% versus 11%). This may indicate a lack of strong family ties or little interest in education as a topic for discussion in the home.
Parental education, particularly that of mothers, seemed to have a greater impact on women than on men. In two-parent families, there were eight times as many female leavers whose mothers had low education as had high education; by contrast, among male leavers, low-education mothers were three times as numerous as those with high education (Chart 3-6). In fact, 56% of female leavers in 2-parent families had mothers who had not graduated from high school, compared with 38% of male leavers.
Chart 3-5
Parental Education
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
As might be expected, considering the differences in parental educational attainment, the occupations of leavers' and graduates' parents also varied. Leavers were much more likely than graduates to have parents employed in blue collar fields (primary industries, processing, etc.). For instance, 55% of leavers from two-parent families had fathers who worked in these occupations; this compared with 40% of graduates (Chart 3-7). On the other hand, just 11% of leavers had fathers with managerial, professional or technical jobs, compared with 30% of graduates. The trend was similar in lone-parent families, but because the majority of these families are headed by women, relatively few parents had blue collar jobs.
Chart 3-6
Mother's Education, Two-Parent Families
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
Chart 3-7
Parental Jobs in Two-Parent Families
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
A substantial share of leavers from two-parent families had parents who were not working. The fathers of 14% of leavers were not employed, double the figure for graduates' fathers (7%). Mothers were much less likely to be employed outside the home, but again, the proportion of leavers' mothers who were not employed (30%) exceeded the proportion for graduates (24%). This discrepancy did not prevail among lone-parent families (Chart 3-8). Almost equal shares of leavers and graduates from such families had parents who were not employed 18%* and 19%, respectively.
Chart 3-8
Parental Jobs in Single Parent Families
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
Geographic Locale
People from rural areas are somewhat more likely than city dwellers to be school leavers. Rural residents accounted for 27% of leavers, compared with 23% of graduates. Moreover, rural leavers tended to have left school relatively early. While 42% of rural leavers had departed before completing Grade 10, the figure for urban leavers was 29%.
Activity Limitation
A small share of 18-20-year-olds (6%) were limited in the kind or amount of activity they could do because of a long-term physical condition or health problem. However, people with disabilities were more likely than those without disabilities to be school leavers. Physically disabled youths spoke of feeling alienated and having a difficult time in school. One participant in the pre-survey focus groups reported that other students were uncomfortable around her and afraid of her. 37
Aboriginal People
School leaver rates were particularly high among aboriginal people. Fully 40% of aboriginal 18-20-year-olds were leavers (compared with 16% for the population aged 18-20 overall), and just 30%* were high school graduates (versus 63% for all 18-20-year-olds).
This exceptionally high leaver rate was not surprising, as large proportions of aboriginal people had other characteristics associated with early school leaving. Close to half lived with a lone parent or with neither parent, compared with fewer than a quarter of all 18-20-year-olds. The percentage of aboriginal people with dependent children (16%*) was four times the figure for the 18-20 age group overall (4%).
Immigration and Language
Just 8% of the population aged 18-20 were immigrants, and most of them had been in Canada at least 10 years. Immigrants, however, were less likely than the Canadian-born population to be leavers. Just 11% of 18-20yearold immigrants were school leavers, compared with 17% of people who had been born in Canada.
Linguistic minorities represented 8% of the 18-20-year-old population (English in Quebec; French in the rest of the country; and all those who most often used a non-official language). Little difference existed between the leaver rates of minority and majority language groups.
Relative Risk
Based on their background characteristics, young adults can be classified into groups with different levels of risk of leaving school before graduation. Several key characteristics, all of which had a significant effect on school-leaving rates, can be used to define high, medium, and low-risk groups: family structure, marital status, dependent children, disability, and parental education and occupation.38
The high-risk group is composed of young adults with characteristics associated with high non-completion rates. They tended to come from lone-parent or no-parent families, and were more likely to have their own family responsibilities (i.e., they were married or had dependent children). The high-risk group also contains those from lower socio-economic groups and those who had disabilities.
Four out of ten 18-20-year-olds were in the high-risk group. Their leaver rate, 27%, far exceeded the rate for 18-20-year-olds overall (16%). And not surprisingly, the majority of leavers (69%) came from the highrisk group (Chart 3-9). A high-risk background, however, did not inevitably mean early departure. A third of graduates, in fact, were classified as high-risk.
While background characteristics may identify a student with a greater chance of leaving, many other factors play a role in that student's educational destination: parental attitudes, the school environment, programs to keep young people in school, good teachers, good role models, and individual initiative, determination and motivation. A positive school environment could counterbalance the impact of being from a high risk background.
Chart 3-9
Risk Groups
Statistics Canada School Leavers Survey
At the other end of the risk continuum were students whose characteristics were associated with low leaver rates. The low-risk group included those from two-parent families, where both parents had at least graduated from high school. Also included in the low-risk group were students from two-parent families in which the father held a managerial, professional or technical occupation.
As might be expected, leavers were far less likely than graduates to be in low-risk groups. Whereas 40% of graduates had low-risk backgrounds, the percentage among leavers was just 10%.
Young adults whose characteristics did not place them at either end of the risk extremes were classified as medium-risk. This group came from families headed by a well-educated lone parent or from two-parent families where at least one parent had less than high school graduation. The medium-risk group accounted for a slightly lower proportion of leavers (21%) than graduates (27%).
Summary
Several background characteristics can help identify students who are likely to leave school before graduating. Above-average leaver rates tended to be associated with those from lone-parent or no-parent families, and from families where parents have low levels of educational attainment or blue collar jobs. Similarly, the chances of early leaving were much greater for those who were married, had children, or had disabilities. As well, leaver rates were particularly high among aboriginal people.
Nonetheless, although background characteristics may identify students with the greatest likelihood of becoming school leavers, a large proportion of the high-risk group does graduate from high school. Obviously, other factors, including the school environment itself, are involved in an individual's decision to either stay in school or to leave before graduation.
34 Respondents in no-parent families were living alone or with their own children, with their spouse or common-law partner, with relatives other than parents or step-parents, or with friends.
35 The respondents' marital status and dependent children refer to the time of the interview (April to June 1991).
36 In two-parent families, "low" parental education refers to families where one or both parents had not graduated from high school; "medium," to families where both parents were high school graduates or where one had at least some postsecondary education, and the other had less; and "high" to families where both parents had at least some postsecondary education. In lone-parent families, "low" parental education refers to less than high school graduation; "medium, to high school graduation; and "high," to at least some postsecondary education.
37 Price Waterhouse. "Qualitative Research Related to the School Leavers Questionnaire." Final Report, October 25, 1990.
38 The high-risk group consists of those in one or more of the following categories: with dependent children; ever-married; with disabilities; living with neither parent; lone-parent families where the parent had less than postsecondary education; two-parent families where the father was not working and the mother either was not working or had a pink or blue collar job; two-parent families where both parents were blue collar workers; or two-parent families where the father's education was unknown. All these groups had leaver rates of at least 20%.
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