YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

96 shows the responses to the question of whether young people had en- gaged in any form of informal learning at all in the last 12 months. The analysis compared respondents who had already completed formal edu- cation and thus did not have full-time or part-time status (N = 501) and those who still had student status (N = 693) by level of education. The differences measured by the chi-square test are statistically signifi- cant (p < 0.001). The results are somewhat surprising and, in a way, con- firm the importance of informal learning for young people with lower educational levels. Looking first at the Figure in terms of educational attainment, we find that, on average, informal learning is most fre- quently used (or perceived) by young people with a primary school edu- cation or less and by those with a university degree, a master’s degree or a Ph.D. Both other educational categories have a lower share than the above. The relatively even distribution of shares by educational attain- ment certainly shows that informal learning is a form of learning that does not differ according to an individual’s educational level, social sta- tus, or employment status, but is evenly distributed across all popula- tion groups (Jeff, & Smith, 2005). However, when this form of learning is further compared according to the respondents’ status, significant differences are found, especially among young people with 2 or 3 years of vocational or technical educa- tion and secondary education. In both cases, those enrolled in secondary education and who have regular student status are more likely to report having completed a form of informal learning.