Master? This outcome convokes a deeper researching on a statistical
feature which cannot be approached on the basis of such a limited database
and we just emphasize it in order to stimulate further research on this
apparent bi-modal distribution.
In the CR adjustment we used sex as the stratification variable,
thereby directly allowing to compare features conditioning both women’
and men’ time needed to complete MSc. As to the “explaining” variables,
e.g. the ones which coefficient values overcame the statistical tests and
were more close - or less deviated from... - to the correspondent expected
values20, we obtained the following ones, arranged in decreasing order:
“(Perceived) lack of basic required knowledge/qualification”, “Job
closing/employer’s difficulties”, “Need to keep a job during Master
preparation”, “Having no career expectation”, “Lack of support by the
family” and “Wishing to acquire further knowledge”. This apparently
miscellaneous become more clear when we remember variable
classification we presented in Section 4: thereby, some individual and
initial conditions and motivation factors (perceived previous qualification
and knowledge level; desire to improve qualifications), included in h0 and
x, together with other determinants such as situation towards labour market
(actual or probable unemployment, absence of upward mobility chances),
income restrictions which impose the need to combine a paid job with
Master completion21 and family demandings, as well, these latter features
ascribed to β parameters of the Hazard/Survival Function, were all
meaningfully associated with gender differences in time needed to get a
Master.
20 Although no one of them could significantly approach the corresponding Exp (value) as a consequence
of the small number of observations.
21 Furthermore when the fellowship policy suffers from the restrictions Portuguese researchers are so well
aware.
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