48
The lowest participation rate was among those with less than grade 5, at 21.3 per cent for
Aboriginals and 23.3 per cent for non-Aboriginals (Appendix Table 12). Persons who continued
to grades 5 to 8 had a much higher participation rate, though it was still low. In fact, Aboriginal
Canadians had a higher participation rate than non-aboriginal Canadians in this educational
group (33.4 per cent compared to 28.3 per cent). Continuing to high school provided a clear
advantage with 50.2 per cent of Aboriginal Canadians over 15 who started but did not finish high
school and 72.3 per cent of those who graduated in the labour force. Results are similar for non-
Aboriginals: 52.8 and 69.2 per cent, respectively.
Having completed high school education once again holds an important advantage. As
Chart 13 illustrates, those who finished high school have a participation rate nearly double than
those who do not, both in 1996 and 2001.
Aboriginal Canadians with a trade certificate or diploma had a higher participation rate
than non-Aboriginal individuals at the same level of educational attainment: 76.0 versus 69.2 per
cent. It was also slightly higher for Aboriginal Canadians who completed college education.
They had participation rates around 82 per cent compared to 79 per cent for non-Aboriginal
Canadians. For most of the educational groups encompassing university graduates, Aboriginal
Canadians had higher participation rates than the general population. For example, holders of
bachelor‘s degrees had a rate of 85.4 per cent, compared to 82.3 per cent for the non-Aboriginal
population.16
Table 5: Participation Rates by Educational Attainment, 1996 and 2001
|
Aboriginal |
Non- |
Difference between Non- Aboriginals (Percentage __________Points)_________ |
Change in | ||
|
2001 |
2001 |
1996 |
2001 |
1996-2001 | |
|
Less than grade 5 |
21.3 |
23.3 |
-2.7 |
-2.0 |
0.7 |
|
Grades 5 to 8 |
33.4 |
28.3 |
6.3 |
5.1 |
-1.2 |
|
Grades 9 to 13 |
50.2 |
52.8 |
-3.5 |
-2.6 |
0.9 |
|
High School Graduation |
72.3 |
69.2 |
1.2 |
3.1 |
1.9 |
|
Trades Certificate or Diploma |
76.0 |
69.2 |
4.6 |
6.8 |
2.2 |
|
College: Without Trades or college Certificate |
69.7 |
72.5 |
8.7 |
-2.7 |
-11.4 |
|
College: With trades certificate or diploma |
82.0 |
78.8 |
-0.9 |
3.2 |
4.1 |
|
College: With college certificate or diploma |
82.5 |
79.7 |
1.8 |
2.8 |
1.0 |
|
University: Without certificate, diploma or degree |
75.0 |
75.2 |
-17.5 |
-0.2 |
17.3 |
|
University: With university or college certificate |
79.9 |
78.0 |
0.5 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
|
University: With bachelor or first professional degree |
85.4 |
82.3 |
1.0 |
3.1 |
2.1 |
|
University: With certificate above bachelor's degree |
76.0 |
79.3 |
3.0 |
-3.3 |
-6.3 |
|
University: With master's degree(s) |
83.9 |
81.8 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
-0.8 |
|
University: With earned doctorate___________________________ |
_________58.3 |
81.0 |
-0.7 |
-22.7 |
-22.0 |
|
Less than High School Graduation High School Graduation and Higher_______________________ |
44.0 _________77.2 |
44.8 76.3 |
0.1 -1.5 |
-0.8 _________0.9 |
-0.9 2.4 |
|
Total______________________________________________________ |
_________61.3 |
66.6 |
-7.1 |
_________-5.2 |
1.9 |
|
Source: Census 1996 & 2001, Public Use Microdata Files | |||||
16 However, the most noticeable difference is in doctorate earners, group in which only 58.3 per cent of Aboriginal
individuals participate in the labour force compared to 81.0 per cent for non-Aboriginals, although this could be due
to the small sample size of Aboriginal doctorate earners.