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The Gap Year: An Overview of the Issues

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  • Jacob Greenspon

Abstract

Taking a gap year between high school and post-secondary education appears to be an increasingly popular phenomenon in popular culture, among well-known individuals and for Canadian youth. This report reviews the literature on issues related to gap years, with a focus on the Canadian context and the experiences of youth in several similar countries. Overall, taking a gap year appears to be a beneficial choice for many Canadian youth, although the impacts of a gap year are often dependent on the youth’s socioeconomic background and the activities they participate in during their gap year. Based on these findings in the literature, a number of options for public policy are proposed to improve knowledge of gap years, increase the take-up of gap years, and make gap years a more accessible option for disadvantaged segments of the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob Greenspon, 2017. "The Gap Year: An Overview of the Issues," CSLS Research Reports 2017-01, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:resrep:1701
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    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2017-01.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ferrer, Ana M. & Menendez, Alicia, 2009. "The Returns to Flexible Postsecondary Education: The Effect of Delaying School," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-26, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 15 Mar 2009.
    2. Ryan S. Wells & Cassie M. Lynch, 2012. "Delayed College Entry and the Socioeconomic Gap: Examining the Roles of Student Plans, Family Income, Parental Education, and Parental Occupation," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(5), pages 671-697, September.
    3. Andrew J. Martin & Rachel Wilson & Gregory Arief D. Liem & Paul Ginns, 2013. "Academic Momentum at University/College: Exploring the Roles of Prior Learning, Life Experience, and Ongoing Performance in Academic Achievement across Time," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(5), pages 640-674, September.
    4. Ana M. Ferrer & Alicia Menendez, 2014. "The Puzzling Effects of Delaying Schooling on Canadian Wages," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 40(3), pages 197-208, September.
    5. David D. Curtis, 2014. "The ‘Gap Year’ in Australia: Incidence, Participant Characteristics and Outcomes," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 47(1), pages 107-114, March.
    6. Sunny Niu & Marta Tienda, 2013. "Delayed Enrollment and College Plans: Is There a Postponement Penalty?," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 84(1), pages 1-27, January.
    7. Kate Simpson, 2004. "'Doing development': the gap year, volunteer-tourists and a popular practice of development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 681-692.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan C. Wolter & Maria Zumbuehl, 2017. "The native-migrant gap in the progression into and through upper-secondary education," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0139, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Academics; University; High School; Youth; Socioeconomic; Employment; Measurement; Canada; Gap Year;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • Y - Miscellaneous Categories
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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