Economics zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA of Education Review, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Vol. 3, NO. 4, pp. 315-331,1984. Printed in GreatBritain. 0272-7757184 $3.00 + 0.00 0 1984 Pergamon Press Ltd. zyxwvuts The Effect of Diversified Schools on Employment Status and Earnings in Colombia GEORGE PSACHAROPOULOS* and ANTONIO ZABALZA? * The World Bank, Washington, DC 20433, U.S.A. and tLondon School of Economics, London WC2. U.K. Abstract-This paper reports the results of an evaluation of the effects on employment of a new type of secondary schools (INEM) in Colombia, which offer prevocational subjects alongside the traditional academic curriculum. The evaluation is based on a follow-up survey of about 1800 graduates of INEM and other schools 3 yr after leaving school. The central finding is that the new schools have not produced a further training or employment pattern different from that of the control schools. In particular, INEM graduates (relative to traditional graduates) are not more likely to enter employment immediately upon graduation and do not realize higher earnings once employed. According to this initial evaluation, there is virtually no difference in the social rate of return to the resources invested in the two types of schools. INTRODUCTION THIS paper investigates whether Colombia’s inno- vative secondary schools (INEM) have any effect on their graduates’ employment status and earnings that differs from those of conventional academic or vocational schools. The Institutes Nacionales de Education Media (National Institutes of Secondary Education) were established in the early 1970s. In these new public schools, unlike Colombia’s con- ventional schools, the curriculum includes both academic and prevocational subjects. An INEM student specializing in academic subjects will be exposed to vocational studies and, conversely, a student specializing in a vocational subject will also receive academic instruction. The main objective in establishing these schools was to provide a more flexible education than that given by conventional secondary schools, whose academic programs were largely geared towards university entrance. This, it is claimed, has resulted in too much demand for higher education and very few people with voca- tional skills. INEM schools are expected to provide an education which, while leaving open the option of university entrance, is more oriented towards practical skills. * The present study is based on a sample of 1826 students who graduated from secondary education in December 1978. Of them about 42% graduated from INEMs and the rest from conventional schools. The graduates were interviewed in October 1981, and information was obtained on their current status as well as their educational and employment history since graduation from secondary school.* GRADUATE DESTINATIONS AND EARNINGS An analysis of the graduates’ current employment status (October 1981) and initial destinations (December 1978) reveals the following. First, there is a significant amount of mobility between different employment states during the period considered. Youths who are new to the labor market can be expected to change jobs frequently at first, as they seek the career path that best suits them. Second, it is difficult to reject the hypothesis that propor- tionately, the INEMs prepare fewer of their gradu- ates for employment than do conventional schools: [Manuscript received 26 April 1984; revision accepted for publication 12 June 1984.1 315