Tertiary education, skills and productivity

Introduction

This paper updates and extends an article that was first published in Profile and Trends 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2008). It provides an overview of the information and literature relating to the link between tertiary education, skills and productivity in New Zealand.

There has been major growth in the proportion of employed New Zealanders with a tertiary education qualification. The proportion with a bachelors degree or higher has doubled since 1992. This has been a result of increased attainment of qualifications by New Zealanders and skilled migration. However, there has been little change in the overall literacy skills of people in employment. During this period, New Zealand’s labour productivity has not grown as fast as that of its main competitors. Consecutive governments have identified raising productivity growth as a key economic challenge for the country.