4.4  Distributions of education, training and work experience by ethnicity

Mean differences by ethnicity in time spent in acquiring human capital and work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 may tell only a part of the overall story. In this section we compare the estimated distributions of these outcomes between Maori and non-Maori.

The software package STATA is used to estimate the probability density functions of actual work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 using a kernel smoother. Figures 1 and 2 display the results for the two and three-way splits in youth ethnicities. Table 4 showed that the mean value of work experience by age 21 was significantly lower for Maori (1.990 years) than non-Maori (2.278). Figure 1 shows that these ethnic differences in work experience come from a relatively flatter density function for Maori. Most of these differences appear in the lower tails of these distributions. The numerical results at the bottom of Figure 1 show that 50.6% of Maori have fewer than two years of work experience by age 21. The same is true for only 42.0% of non-Maori. Yet, the upper tails of the distributions appear to be quite similar.

Figure 1 – Work Experience Ages 16 21: Two-Way Split in Youth Ethnicities

Notes: These data are taken from the 973 respondents in the CHDS who provided valid information for the purposes of this study. The probability density functions are estimated using a kernel smoother in STATA. These are the estimated distributions of the actual work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 for the two ethnic groups. Youth are defined as ‘Maori’ in this figure if they identify Maori as at least one of their ethnicities at age 21, and had at least one parental figure claiming Maori ancestry by age 14. All other youth are considered to be ‘non-Maori’.

Differences between sole and mixed Maori (relative to non-Maori) in their respective work experience distributions are depicted in Figure 2. Table 5 showed that the mean value of work experience was significantly lower for mixed Maori (1.868), but not for sole Maori (2.120). This is caused by a ‘leftward shift’ in the entire work experience density function for mixed Maori relative to non-Maori. The greater variability in experiences by Maori appears to be concentrated among sole Maori. Both mixed and sole Maori are much more likely than non-Maori to accumulate relatively little work experience by age 21. But only mixed Maori accumulate significantly less work experience by age 21 than non-Maori. However, caution should be exercised in drawing firm conclusions from this analysis because of the relatively small sample size for Maori. This is particularly true for the smoothed density functions among sole and mixed Maori with samples of 48 and 51, respectively.

Notes: These data are taken from the 973 respondents in the CHDS who provided valid information for the purposes of this study. The probability density functions are estimated using a kernel smoother in STATA. These are the estimated distributions of the actual work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 for the three ethnic groups. Youth are defined as ‘Sole Maori’ in this figure if they identify Maori as their only ethnicity at age 21. Youth are defined as ‘Mixed Maori’ if they report both Maori and any other ethnicity, and had at least one parental figure claiming Maori ancestry by age 14. All other youth are considered to be ‘non-Maori’.

The estimated density functions on actual work experience in Figures 1 and 2 do not ‘control’ for the fact that work experience may have been foregone between the ages of 16 and 21 while youth accumulate human capital through formal education and training programmes. A variable is constructed that combines the effective time spent enrolled in education or training programmes with the actual years of work experience between the 16^th and 21^st birthdays. Again, the amounts of time spent in the two activities are not mutually exclusive. Individuals, for example, could be enrolled in full-time study and part-time work, or part-time study and full-time work. This means that the sum of two activities can exceed the maximum of this five-year interval in some cases. The estimate probability density functions for this ‘total experience’ variable are displayed in Figures 3 and 4 for the two and three-way splits in youth ethnicities.

The mean values for effective years in education, training and work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 are 4.875 for non-Maori and 4.229 for Maori. These ethnic differences are significant at a 1% level, and the gap of 0.646 years in total experience is larger than the gap of 0.288 years in work experience between non-Maori and Maori. The ethnic differences in the estimated density functions for total experience are striking. While both have a peak of slightly less than five years, the distribution for Maori is more dispersed. The biggest differences occur in the lower tails. Slightly more than one out of every eight non-Maori (12.6%) and nearly one of every three Maori (32.3%) accumulate three or fewer years of education, training and work experience between the ages of 16 and 21. (See the numbers at the bottom of Figure 3.) Many of the differences in the accumulation of human capital and work experience between the ethnic groups appear to be concentrated among the most disadvantaged in society. Yet, 42.9% of non-Maori have more than five years of combined education, training and work experience between ages 16 and 21. The same is true for only 29.3% of Maori.

Figure 4 displays the estimated density functions for total experience using the three-way split in youth ethnicity. The mean values for the effective years in education, training and work experience between the ages of 16 and 21 are 4.875 for non-Maori, 4.333 for mixed Maori and 4.208 for sole Maori. Again, the upper tails of the three density functions appear to be fairly similar. The biggest differences occur in the lower tails. Recall that slightly more than one out of every eight non-Maori (12.6%) had accumulated three or fewer years of education, training and work experience over this five-year period. Yet, these proportions are substantially higher among mixed Maori (29.4%) and sole Maori (35.4%). (See the numbers at the bottom of Figure 4.) Both groups of Maori are much more likely to ‘fail’ in accumulating these productive experiences relative to non-Maori. Again, 42.9% of non-Maori have more than five years of combined education, training and work experience between ages 16 and 21. The same is true for only 29.2% and 29.4% of sole and mixed Maori. Both groups of Maori are less likely to ‘succeed’ in accumulating these productive experiences relative to non-Maori during this critical phase in the school-to-work transition.