| Age | Overall (n=9,10127) |
Access/ upgrading (n=876) |
Career /Technical (n=4,695) |
University Prep (n=2,178) |
Post-diploma (n=425) |
Degree (n=884) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 and under |
34% | 18% | 30% | 56% | 17% | 24% |
| 20-24 | 39% | 36% | 41% | 32% | 46% | 44% |
| 25-29 | 11% | 14% | 12% | 6% | 17% | 16% |
| 30-39 | 10% | 18% | 11% | 4% | 14% | 9% |
| 40+ | 6% | 14% | 7% | 2% | 6% | 7% |
| Average | 24 years | 27 years | 24 years | 21 years | 25 years | 25 years |
Source: Prairie research Associates (2005)
Not surprisingly, for both men and women, participation decreases with age. As Table 5.3 shows, individuals between the ages of 25 and 34 are the most likely to participate, and this difference holds across provinces (not shown). Table 5.3 also shows that women are slightly more likely than men to participate in ‘second chance’ post-secondary (8.percent versus 6.9 percent). While the gender participation gap among all adults is 1.1 percentage point, this gap increases to 2.6 percentage points when we consider only 25-34 year olds.
| 25 to 34 | 35 to 44 | 45 to 54 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 210,950 | 113,666 | 53,330 | 377,946 |
| 12.5% | 5.7% | 3.0% | 6.9% | |
| Female | 229,341 | 135,244 | 73,484 | 438,069 |
| 15.1% | 6.6% | 3.9% | 8.0% | |
| All | 440,291 | 248,910 | 126,814 | 816,015 |
| 13.8% | 6.1% | 3.4% | 7.4% |
Source: Authors’ calculations using The Adult Education and Training Survey (2003)
Interestingly, the gender participation gap varies across provinces. As Table 5.4 shows, in British Columbia, the gender gap is much larger than the provincial average (2.8 versus 1.1). In Québec, the gap is slightly smaller and in Alberta, the gap is virtually non-existent. Interestingly in Nova Scotia, the gap is reversed: men are more likely to participate than women.
27 Note: the number of people (n) in each program may not sum to the overall number of people because some respondents did not indicate the program in which they were enrolled.