Essays on Education and Work

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on public policies that aim to improve the educational and work outcomes of populations in disadvantage. The first article investigates the post-secondary effects of an alternative high school graduation program implemented in the State of Maryland, United States. The results show that among students who initially fail an exit exam, those who eventually graduate through the alternative pathway have lower college enrollment, but similar employment outcomes to students who graduate by retaking and passing their exit exams. Compared to similar students who fail to complete high school, those students who take the alternative pathway have better post-secondary outcomes in both education and employment.The second article studies the effects of public childcare on female labor force participation, enrollment in the educational system, and time spent in unpaid work in Costa Rica. Taking advantage of the inter-institutional implementation of this program, it is shown how the overall effect of the program could be masking heterogeneous effects when programs are implemented through different agencies. Although childcare services in Costa Rica are positively associated with female labor force participation and education enrollment, when analyzed by agency these results are driven by only one of them. This heterogeneity may come from agencies establishing different eligibility criteria, serving different populations, and ultimately offering differentiated services. The third article assesses whether the provider and type of career advice offered in high schools in the United States and Costa Rica affect first-generation students’ aspirations to pursue a college degree. The results show that neither the provider (teachers or counselors) nor the type (formally scheduled versus voluntary) of counseling is associated with changes in the college aspirations of first-generation students. The gap in aspirations between first- and continuing-generation students is larger in the United States than in Costa Rica. In the United States, first-generation students are more likely to be immigrants and to start their higher education at community colleges. In Costa Rica, they are more likely to attend early education, to be able to live at their home while attending college, and to attend a four-year public university with a scholarship.