Important Information About Using Training Data
- To some extent, types of training and training providers are respondent-defined. Universes for the various sets of training and provider variables differ and there is not always a clear distinction between types of training or types of providers or services. The wording of some questions, for example, combines more specific on-the-job training with general work experience. Similarly, the training category "on-the-job training" can be a type of vocational/technical program, a service provided in conjunction with either a government job or a government training program, or a type of training for a military job.
- For a full picture of government-sponsored jobs and associated training variables available for the NLSY79 refer to the "On Jobs" section of the 1979-87 questionnaires; the accompanying Employer Supplements, which collected information on all jobs held by the respondent (including but not limited to government-sponsored jobs); and the 1979-86 "Government Training" sections, which asked those respondents not enrolled in school for information on other government training programs in which they had been enrolled and which were not already reported within the "On Jobs" section.
- The sources of Federal funding and types of service providers reported by participants did not always keep pace with legislative reality. Participation in defunct Federal programs was reported as late as 1985 for MDTA and 1986 for CETA. Although JTPA funding of local programs occurred as early as 1983-84, JTPA as a category in the government-sponsor questions is presumably included under 'Other' and appears as a coding category within the 'Part of CETA/JTPA or WIN' questions beginning in 1986. Finally, although Federally funded, these jobs programs were locally operated under a variety of names; appropriate Federal funding sources may or may not have been known to the recipient.
- The wording of questions on job placement within the Employer Supplements and the "Government Training" sections of the questionnaires changed beginning with the 1984 survey. Prior to 1984, a question on whether the government training program in which the respondent had participated had placed the respondent in a job "outside" the program was followed by a question on whether that outside job placement had occurred to a CETA or PSE (Public Service Employment) job and, if so, whether that subsidized job had been followed by another (presumably) unsubsidized job placement. Beginning with the 1984 survey and the enactment of JTPA, this rather complex series of questions was dropped and only two questions were asked:
- whether respondents had been placed, as part of their training, in a subsidized on-the-job training (OJT) or work experience slot and
- whether respondents had been placed in a job by the program after completion of training.
Information has been collected during all survey years on the type of organization providing the training in which NLSY79 respondents participated. In addition to regularly fielded general training questions, special data collections focused on:
- government training administered in the early years of the NLSY79
- high school courses
- degrees and certifications
- and time use provide supplementary information on NLSY79 respondents' training investments
In general, the "Training" or "Other Training" sections of each NLSY79 questionnaire:
- collect information on each respondent's participation since the date of the last interview in three (or more) training programs
- confirm and update information on two (or more) training programs in which he or she was enrolled on the date of last interview
Provider types for which data have been consistently gathered across survey years include company training, business school, vocational/technical institute, and apprenticeship program. Questions fielded during select survey years specified other training providers such as nurses program, barber/beauty school, flight school, seminars or training programs at work/outside of work, and vocational rehabilitation center. The names of identical and additional agencies can be found in the:
- 1979-87 government training and jobs programs questions
- 1979 degrees and certifications data collection
- 1980 time use in "other training" series
Data on government training was collected from 1979 through the mid-1980s for NLSY79 respondents. The primary concern of NLSY79 questions was whether jobs held by the respondent had been obtained through a program funded by the government. The survey also explored whether training and supportive services had been provided. In general, information was gathered on:
- enrollment patterns
- program sponsorship
- types of training
- supportive services
- job placement services provided
Related Variables: The Educational Attainment & School Enrollment and School & Transcript Surveys sections of this guide review some additional and related variables.
Core Data Collection
For each program, a core set of variables is collected on the type of provider offering the training, start and stop dates (month and year), whether the training was completed, and the number of hours per week usually spent in each training program. Variables include:
- 'Any Vocational/Technical Training Enrolled'1
- 'Attended Vocational/Technical Program or On-the-Job Training'
- 'Type of School or Vocational/Technical Program Enrolled In'
- 'Month/Year Began'
- 'Month/Year Completed/Left'
- 'Completed Vocational/Technical Program Enrolled In'
- 'Hours Per Week Spent at Vocational/Technical Program Taken'
1 Note that the 1979-86 data collections asked only about training programs in which the respondent had been enrolled for more than one month.
Year-by-Year Variations. During the 1979-86 surveys, the focus of the NLSY79 training data collection was on the types of formal training programs in which a respondent was enrolled other than those already reported in the previously administered jobs, government training, military, and regular schooling sections of the questionnaire. After 1987, the series of questions concerning government-sponsored training was no longer fielded and the "Other Training" section was renamed "Training." The types of information collected for all years of the survey differ and are discussed below (Table 1.)
Table 1. Year-by-Year Variations in Training Data Collection
Year(s) | Training data collected |
Beginning in 1979 |
|
Beginning in 1982 |
Questionnaires (1982-1984) included an expanded series detailing:
|
1987 | Respondents reported whether any training or assistance had been received from any government-sponsored program. |
Beginning in 1988 |
|
Beginning in 1990 | Two questions (1990-1994) were added on the relationship of each training program to the respondent's promotion possibilities, that is, was the training necessary to get a promotion and did it assist the respondent in obtaining a promotion. Information was collected beginning in 1991 on the primary reason the respondent enrolled in the training program (this question had been taken out after 1984 but was returned to the survey in 1991), the specific employer who sponsored the training, and whether a guaranteed student loan was used to pay for the training. |
1993 |
The 1993 series of training questions included the collection of information on:
For those respondents who were enrolled at either point in time in a training program sponsored by an employer, a new question elicited information on whether the respondent had to be working for that employer for a period of time before training was made available. Those enrolled in any training program were asked a series of:
In addition to this expanded set of questions on formal training experiences of NLSY79 respondents, the 1993 survey collected, for the first time, information on informal training opportunities. Those respondents with a current (or most recent) civilian job were asked a series of questions designed to tap the methods used to either learn their job or to upgrade skills required on that job. Those respondents with a CPS employer who had implemented workplace changes in the past 12 months that necessitated the learning of new job skills were asked for information on:
Respondents with a CPS employer who reported that they were not able to perform 100 percent of their current job duties at the time they first started doing the job were asked the same set of training and skill transferability questions listed above. Loewenstein and Spletzer (1994) review training questions in the 1993 NLSY79 and other data sets, including the 1991 CPS, the 1986 NLS of the High School Class of '72, and the Employment Opportunity Pilot Project, and present some initial findings from the 1993 NLSY79. |
Table 2. Definitions of Training and Training Providers: Definitions from the NLSY79 Question-by-Question Specifications. (1991)
Apprenticeship Program: A formal program in which a person agrees to work in return for wages and training in a skilled trade or art for a prescribed period of time. Business School: Is not to be confused with business classes in college or graduate school. It does not contribute to an undergraduate or professional degree. Classroom Training - Basic Skill: Includes academic instruction in a classroom setting leading to specific certification for a GED or academic instruction in basic education such as English or math. See description of GED below. Classroom Training - Job Skill: Includes vocational instruction in a classroom setting, designed to teach work tasks of a particular job group, such as auto mechanics, health services, or clerical training. Correspondence Course: Training courses offered through the mail. General Educational Development Test (GED): A certificate that is equivalent to a high school diploma obtained as a result of taking the General Educational Development Test. The test provides a valid means of measuring the educational proficiency of individuals taking the test in comparison with high school graduates. On-the-Job Training: Includes institutional instruction in a work setting intended to enable an individual to learn a skill or qualify for a particular occupation through demonstration and practice. Vocational Rehabilitation Center: Facility offering specialized training to prepare disabled persons to enter or re-enter the work force. Vocational Technical Institute: For example, a beauty school, auto mechanics training, or welder's school. Work Experience: Includes short-term or part-time work with employing agency to enhance employment ability of an individual through development of good work habits and basic work skills. |
Types of Skill Training Across Questionnaire Sections
Comparable types of training data collected within various sections of the questionnaire, the "Government Training," "Jobs," "Military," "Training," or "Other Training" sections, have been grouped together in Table 3. Variables represented in the table include those that have the following types of training represented either within their variable title or as a coding category:
- basic skill training
- occupational skill training (classroom)
- occupational skill training (on-the-job)
- or occupational skill training (apprenticeship program)
Employer-specific training: Questions on employer-specific training were fielded during select survey years and are also included in Table 3.
Table 3. "Other Training" & "Training" Sections of the NLSY79 for All Survey Years
Training Type | Survey Years | Area of interest |
Basic Skill Training1 | ||
'Services Provided - Classroom Training in Govt Program? Job #1-5' (Reading, Writing, or Arithmetic) | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided - GED Preparation in Govt Program? Job #1-5' | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided - Govt Program Training - English as a 2nd Language? Job #1-5' | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided - College Preparation in Govt Program? Job #1-5' | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided, 1st/2nd Govt Program Training Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int - Class Training?' (Reading, Writing, or Arithmetic) | 1979-86 | Government Training |
'Services Provided, 1st/2nd Govt Program Training Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int - GED Preparation?' | 1979-86 | Government Training |
'Services Provided, 1st/2nd Govt Program Training Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int - English as a 2nd Language' | 1979-86 | Government Training |
'Type of 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Vocational/Technical Pgm Since 86/Prior Int/Since Last Interview- Basic Skill' (GED, English, or Math) | 1988-94 | Training |
'Changes in Workplace - Upgrade Employees Basic Skills', CPS Employer - Job Change Past 12 Months | 1993-94 | Training |
Occupational Skill Training - Classroom | ||
'Services Provided - Skills Training in Govt Program Job? Job #1-5' | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided, 1st/2nd Govt Program Training Since Jan 78/Since Last Interview - Skills Training' | 1979-86 | Government Training |
'Type of 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Vocational/Technical Pgm Since 86/Prior Int/Since Last Interview' (Job Skill) | 1988-94 | Training |
'Formal (School) Training for Military Job Held?/for Other Military Job Held?' | 1979-85 | Military |
Occupational Skill Training - On-the-Job Training | ||
'Services Provided - OJT in Govt Program? Job #1-5' | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Govt Program Job - Sponsor of Job #1-5' (CETA On-the-Job Training; MDTA On-the-Job Training) | 1979-87 | Government Jobs |
'Services Provided, 1st/2nd Govt Program Training Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int - OJT?' | 1979-83 | Government Training |
'Govt Program Job or OJT Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int' | 1979-84 | Jobs, Misc. 1979 |
'Did R Have Govt Program Part-time Job, Summer Job, or OJT Since Last Int?' | 1985-87 | Misc. xxxx |
'Type of Experience Prior to Current Job/Most Recent Job - OJT with Current Employer/OJT with Previous Employer' | 1989, 1990 | Misc. xxxx |
'Type of 1st/2nd/etc. Vocational/Technical Pgm Since 86/Prior Int/Since Last Int - OJT' | 1988-96 | Training |
'Placed in a Job as Part of Govt Pgm Training Job #1-5' (Work Experience or OJT) | 1984-87 | Misc. xxxx |
'OJT for Military Job Held? for Other Military Job Held?' | 1979-85 | Misc. 1979, Military |
'Time Use - Working - Apprenticeship or OJT in Last Week?' | 1981 | Time Use |
Occupational Skill Training - Apprenticeship Program | ||
'Type of School 1st/2nd/etc. Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in At Last Int' - Apprenticeship | 1979-86 | Training |
'Type of School 1st/2nd/3rd Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in Before Jan 1978/Since Last Int' - Apprenticeship | 1979-86 | Training |
'Type of School 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Vocational/Technical Pgm Since Last Int' | 1988-2018 | Training |
'Type of School 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th Vocational/Technical Pgm Since Last Int' | 1993-2018 | Training |
'1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th Govt Program Training Enrolled in Prior to Jan 1978' - Apprenticeship Program | 1979 | Government Training |
'1st/2nd Govt Program Training Enrolled in Since Jan 1978/Since Last Int' - Apprenticeship Program | 1979-86 | Government Training |
'Type of Experience Prior to Current Job/Most Recent Job - Apprenticeship' | 1989, 1990 | Misc. xxxx |
'Time Use - Working - Apprenticeship or OJT in Last Week?' | 1981 | Time Use |
Employer-Specific Training | ||
'1st/2nd Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in At/Since Last Int for Job? (Unemployed)' | 1982-84 | Training |
'1st/2nd Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in At/Since Last Int for Job?/for Job with Employer? (Employed)' | 1982-84 | Training |
'Type of Experience Prior to Current Job/Most Recent Job - OJT with Current Employer/OJT with Previous Employer' | 1989-90 | Misc. xxxx |
'Primary Reason for Taking 1st/2nd/etc. Vocational/Technical Pgm Since Last Int?' | 1991-2018 | Training |
'1st/2nd or 1st/2nd/3rd/4th Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in At/Since Last Int Needed for Job Promotion' | 1990-96 | Training |
'1st/2nd/3rd/4th Trng Useful in Doing Different Work for CPS Employer' | 1993-96 | Training |
'1st/2nd/3rd/4th Trng Useful in Doing Same Work for Employer Other than CPS Employer' | 1993-96 | Training |
'1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th Trng Useful in Doing Different Work for CPS Employer' | 1993-96 | Training |
'1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th Trng Useful in Doing Same Work for Emp Other than CPS Employer' | 1993-96 | Training |
1The 1980 School Survey also collected information on whether remedial English, remedial mathematics, or English as a second language had been taken at the last secondary school attended. |
Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: In each survey, information has been collected from the NLSY79 young adults, on their participation in training programs. For the young adults, government sponsorship of a training program is incorporated within the regularly asked "Other Training" questions. Beginning in 2000, detailed information was asked only of the current or most recent training program.
The NLSY97 asks all respondents who were at least 16 years old whether they had ever participated in any occupational training programs outside of their regular schooling. For each program, the survey then collects basic information, including the type of program, start and stop dates, time devoted to the training, periods of nonattendance lasting a week or longer during training sessions of at least two weeks, and whether the program was completed (and if not, the reason). In each round, respondents were asked about whether they participated in government training programs. Additional questions asked for specific programs and their duration.
Original Cohort respondents were asked questions about training both on and off the job and focused on government training programs. For the Young Men, details concerning training received in the military (other than basic training) were gathered in the 1966, 1969, 1971, 1976, and 1981 surveys. In 1975, among other additions, a new provider, "government program or agency", was added to the "Training" section of the Young Women survey. Beginning in 1984, a new category, "government agency", was added to the "Training" section of the Mature Women survey. For more precise details about the content of each survey, consult the appropriate cohort's User's Guide using the tabs above for more information.
References
Loewenstein, Mark A. and Spletzer, James R. "Informal Training: A Review of Existing Data and Some New Evidence." NLS Discussion Paper No. 94-20. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 1994.
National Center for Research in Vocational Education and Center for Human Resource Research. NLSY High School Transcript Survey: Overview and Documentation. Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University.
Pollard, Tom. "An Overview of the Post School Vocational Training Experiences of Youth." In Pathways to the Future. A Report on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Experience in 1979. Michael E. Borus, ed. Columbus, OH: CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1981.
Survey Instruments and Documentation |
These data are collected in the following sections of the NLSY79 questionnaires:
Attachment 3: Industry and Occupation Codes in the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement presents the Census Bureau codes used to classify the job for which the respondent was being trained (1979-86) and the field/trade in which a certificate, license, or journeyman's card was obtained (1979 & 1980). Attachment 6: Other Kinds of Training provides the two-digit codes for up to four other types of training in which the respondent had ever participated as of the 1979 interview. Attachment 7: Other Certificate Codes provides the 1979 coding for up to four degrees or licenses ever received. Sections G-I of the NLSY High School Transcript Survey: Overview and Documentation provide alphabetical and numeric lists of high school course codes and a copy of the "Transcript Coding Sheet." Questions of related interest on nongovernment training can be found in the "Other Training" sections of the 1979-87 questionnaires. The 1979 Employer Flap and the 1980-87 Employer Supplements identify the nature of government-sponsored jobs and contain detailed information on each job. The Glossary of NLS Terms provides descriptions of some of the locally operated programs and the three Federal legislative acts authorizing employment and training funding which were in place during 1979-87. |
---|---|
Areas of Interest | Pollard (1981) reports, in an analysis of the 1979 "Other Training" data, that in-school vocational training was being incorrectly reported within this section. R07443., 'Employed When Began 3rd Vocational/Technical Pgm Enrolled in Since Last Interview,' has been placed in the "Misc. 1982" area of interest; comparable variables relating to the first and second program, R07429. and R07415., are located in "Training." Core training variables are found in the "Training" area of interest. The 1979 and 1980 collections of degrees and certifications are located in "Degrees & Certificates." The 1979 activities during last summer series is in "Misc. 1979." The set of remedial courses taken while in high school are located in "School Survey," and the 1981 time use questions can be found in "Time Use." The 1989 and 1990 CPS experience prior to current job variables are located in "Misc. xxxx" and the military training/OJT series are in "Military." The "Transcript Survey" area of interest contains the high school subject course code variables. Variables from the "Government Training" sections of the 1979-87 surveys are located in the "Government Training" area of interest on the main NLSY79 data set; government-related training variables for subsequent years are located in "Training." Variables relating to government-sponsored jobs are located in the "Government Jobs" and "Misc. xxxx" areas of interest. Detailed information on each government job, such as dates of employment, hourly rate of pay, occupation, and industry, can be found within "Job Information." The "Time Use" area of interest contains the 1981 time use questions. This supplement included questions on time spent in government training programs, that is, total hours in past week/per day, time spent studying and traveling to a government training program, and mode of transportation used. |