Explaining Low High School Attainment in Northern Aboriginal Communities: An Analysis of the Aboriginal Peoples' Surveys

Abstract

Within the off-reserve Canadian Aboriginal population, high school graduation rates are about 45 percent lower in Northern communities (North) than the rest of Canada (South). Using data from the Aboriginal Peoples' Surveys for 2000 and 2005, we document that economic incentives do not appear to be important in explaining the North–South gap in graduation rates. We then consider individual-specific and schooling-related determinants of high school graduation and find that these factors can explain between 31 percent and 59 percent of the North–South gap in the probability of graduation for those who had graduated by the time of the survey. Further, much of the gap is attributable to a respondent speaking/understanding or being taught an Aboriginal language. We discuss the possible implications of these results for language and curricular programming in the North.

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