3 . What is education ’ s impact on civic and social engagement ?

While policy makers widely recognise the fact that education serves as an engine for economic growth through the accumulation of human capital, education is also strongly associated with boosting levels of social capital. Indeed, an important justification for the large expenditures on education within many democratic nations is its social, and not just economic, impact – the benefits an educated electorate brings to civil society. At a time when many civic indicators show a decline across OECD nations, it is thus imperative that we better understand the connections between education and civic and social engagement (hereafter, CSE). This report thus has the narrow objective of taking a step toward sorting through the possible mechanisms linking education and CSE, both through a review of the extant literature and original data analysis. Its broader objective is to consider whether it is worthwhile for the OECD to pursue the development of indicators pertaining to education’s impact on CSE.