Text table 4.1
| Prose | Document | Numeracy | Problem solving | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average scores | ||||
| Knowledge-intensive market service activities | 297 | 298 | 292 | 288 |
| Public administration, defense, education and health | 303 | 300 | 287 | 291 |
| Other community, social and personal services | 286 | 287 | 277 | 279 |
| High and medium-high-techonology manufacturing industries | 283 | 287 | 285 | 277 |
| Low and medium-low-technology manufacturing industries | 265 | 267 | 262 | 261 |
| Utilities and Construction | 274 | 278 | 274 | 269 |
| Wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurants | 276 | 277 | 267 | 271 |
| Transport and storage | 281 | 282 | 277 | 274 |
| Primary industries | 271 | 273 | 269 | 267 |
Note: Standard errors for this table can be found in Annex A Table 4.14.
Source: International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, 2003.
Text box C4
Measuring technology- and knowledge intensive industries
Some industries are more dependent on technology and knowledge inputs than others. Recent work by the OECD categorizes industries according to their relative intensity of technology use in the case of manufacturing industries, and knowledge in the case of market service industries. (Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard (OECD, 1999, pp. 18, 60, 137-140; and 2001, p. 124). This classification is used in this section.
All manufacturing industries are classified according to technology intensity into four categories: high technology manufacturing, medium-high technology manufacturing, medium-low technology manufacturing, and low technology manufacturing. Categories may be collapsed due to limited sample size.
The knowledge-intensive market service activities category includes post and telecommunications (ISIC division 64), finance and insurance (ISIC divisions 65-67), and business activities excluding real estate (ISIC divisions 71-74).
In Canada, the same two industries having higher average scores across the four domains also show relatively high proportions of workers at the highest levels of proficiency - knowledge-intensive market service activities and public administration, defence, education and health. In these two sectors, at least one quarter of the workers score at Level 4/5 proficiency in prose and document literacy and in numeracy. The high and medium-high technology manufacturing sector also has more than one quarter of its workers scoring at Level 4/5 in document literacy and in numeracy (Figures 4.6 A and B).
Overall, at least one in ten workers in any industry sector scores at the highest level of prose, document and numeracy proficiency. In fact, about 50 percent of workers in low and medium-low-technology manufacturing industries; utilities and construction; transport and storage; wholesale, retail, hotels and restaurant industries; and primary industries score at Level 3 or above in prose, document,and numeracy proficiency.