Does education equal performance? I think this is a question that merits some examination. I know few parents or educators that would seriously suggest that education does not bear upon job performance. However, these individuals are not necessarily impartial. What do employers think? Just look at your biodata form (application blank). Near the top you ask applicants to provide details about their education. Look at the stack of resumes lurking in the HR office, all of them have a nice fat section devoted to telling you how well educated you applicants (supplicants?) are. Look at the descriptions of your vacancies; you frequently tell potential applicants that a bachelor’s is required, but a Master’s is preferred. Why exactly is that? By and large, organizations extend higher wages to individuals with more education. Some organizations go as far as to subsidize their employee’s higher education. Is all of this worth it? Where is the evidence demonstrating that this expense is worthwhile? The meta analysis I review today provides some of that evidence. The authors of this study (Thomas Ng and Daniel Feldman) examine the relationship between education and job performance. This study combined the results of 293 other studies containing 332 independent samples for analysis. The study reports on a number of variables, including:
- Education level (grade school through graduate work)
- Performance
- Core task performance
- Performance in training programs
- Organizational citizenship behaviors
- Creativity
- General counterproductive work behaviors
- Workplace aggression
- On-the-job substance abuse
- Tardiness
- Absenteeism
- Moderators
- Overall work experience
- Job tenure
- Job level (manager vs. non-manager)
- Job complexity (low vs. high)
Results
Basic Relationships
- Education level was positively related to core job performance. As education levels rose, so did job performance
- Education level was positively related to Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB). Employees with more education were more likely to engage in OCB.
- Education level was not related to performance in training programs. People with lower educational attainment were just as likely to succeed in training programs as employees with higher educational attainment.
- Education level was positively related to creativity. Individuals with higher educational levels tended to be rated as more creative by their supervisors and peers.
- Educational level was not related to general counterproductive behaviors. Employees with high educational attainment were just as likely to engage in general counterproductive behaviors as employees with lower educational attainment.
- Education was negatively related to workplace aggression and on-the-job substance use. Employees with higher levels of education were less likely to engage in these specific counterproductive behaviors.
- Education level was only weakly and negatively related to tardiness. Though employees weigh lower educational attainment were statistically more likely to be late to work, the difference was not very large.
- Education levels were negatively related to objective measures of absence and health-related absence, such that individuals with more education tended to be absent less often.
Moderated Relationships The authors also tested a number of more complex relationships between the variables included in this study. Specifically, they wanted to see if certain variables (called moderators above) would change the basic relationship between the key variables in this study (education level and job performance). Authors report a number of interesting findings where moderation is concerned:
- Neither work experience, nor job tenure changed the relationship between education level and job performance. Authors expected that being on a job or career for longer would strengthen the impact that more education has on job performance. The data did not support this expectation.
- The education to performance relationship was only moderated by job level (manager vs. non-manager) for organizational citizenship behaviors. Non managers with more education were more likely to engage in OCB than manager with more education.
- The relationship between education and performance was stronger for more complex jobs. As expected, more complex jobs benefit to a higher extent from increased education levels than less complex jobs.
The” Take Home” Message
So what does all this mean for the human resources practitioner or the manager? Generally speaking, one may reasonably expect better performance and fewer problems from employees with more education. Of course, if you have ever read any of my blog posts, you already know it isn’t that simple. More education is thought to contribute to the various types of performance because more educated individuals have acquired and refined a myriad knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA). Each of these can be transferred to the workplace, perhaps any workplace. These KSA may include:
- Intelligence
- Abstract reasoning
- Numerical reasoning
- Verbal reasoning
- Oral and written communication
- Time management
- Relationship building and maintenance
- Impression management
- Impulse control
- Perseverance on difficult tasks
- Goal setting
- Growth needs strength
- Conscientiousness
- Team membership
It is important to understand, that in the context of this study, education levels serve as a proxy for all these skills in combination. This does not guarantee that someone with a college degree will have communication skills, or that someone with nearly a Ph.D. will have fantastic time management skills (just ask my boss). If the job in question requires high levels of mathematical reasoning, an advanced degree in underwater basket-weaving will probably not be the best predictor of job performance. In this case, education level is not a great predictor, but plenty of publishers will be happy to sell you some very good measures of mathematical reasoning. What we can say as a result of this study is that all things being equal, more education contributes to better performance. Is your educational reimbursement program worth the expense? Yes, so long as it is executed properly. Should one extend preference to college graduates when all other considerations are equal? Again, probably yes (if all other things are equal- seriously, this is an important point). Perhaps more importantly, when it comes time to cut those payroll checks (does anyone still use checks?) are all those college-boys (and girls) worth it? Yes… Probably.
Posted by George Guajardo 