Poles today almost unanimously regard education as worthwhile, according to a recent survey carried out by the CBOS polling company. Of those polled, 93 percent say education is worthwhile and just one in 20 adult Poles, or 5 percent, hold the opposite view. The remaining 2 percent have no opinion on the subject.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, there has been a marked and stable increase in Poles' educational aspirations. In 1988, close to the end of communism in Poland, just 1.8 million Poles had higher education, or 6.5 percent of the population above 15 years of age. By 2002 the figure rose to over 3 million and in 2005 was 4.7 million. The rise in recent years of education levels is mainly thanks to women rather than men. The percentage of women with higher education has doubled. Now women have degrees more often than men, while the situation was the opposite during the last years of communism. However, analysts point out that equal qualifications do not always guarantee equal opportunities in life. Most people believe that women earn substantially less than men despite being qualified and carrying out the same job. They are also less likely to be promoted. Research also shows that there are significantly more better-educated people in towns than in the country. These ratios are shrinking, albeit very slowly.

The biggest motivation to learn is the prospect of high earnings, according to almost two-thirds of those polled. Respondents rank the chance of finding an interesting job in second place and in third, the conviction that higher education makes life easier and guarantees independence.

Other motivational factors include intellectual and personal development; less risk of unemployment; the opportunity of working abroad; gaining respect from other people; the opportunity to be self-employed and to work in government. People's priorities depend on their sex, earning power, where they live and the level of their education. Men educate themselves to get an interesting job and high earnings, while intellectual development, gaining people's respect and an easier life are more important to women. People living in the countryside are also most motivated by the prospect of an easier life but also by lighter work and a better chance to stay employed. An interesting job and personal development are particularly important learning motivators for managers. Independence is important for white-collar workers and high wages for blue-collar workers.

The youngest respondents, including schoolchildren and students, more and more often see the need for learning, counting on this as a route to an easier life.

Those polled were also asked what kind of education they would like for their children. It turned out that a decided majority wanted their son or daughter to undergo higher education to at least a bachelor's degree and preferably to master's degree. Not one person polled wanted their child to leave school early and only 11 percent were not thinking in terms of higher education for their child. This is an almost 20 percent increase compared with 1993.

The survey shows that a mere 31 percent of adult Poles are satisfied with their education, while 64 percent would like to improve their level of education. In comparison, at the start of the 1990s, 42 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the level of their education. The current state of affairs is the result of ongoing social and economic changes in Poland. It is these that have pushed up the value of education in the job market.


A Beautiful Mind
Paulina Januszkiewicz, a graduate of the Academy of Business in D±browa Górnicza specializing in the IT/ engineering field, has won a scholarship from the Minister of Education twice and a scholarship from the Silesia Province Marshal, as well as a scholarship from the Polish Talent program. She is only 22, but already has many achievements in IT to her name. Januszkiewicz says:

I got interested in information technology in elementary school. I was about nine years old then. Today, I deal with system and network security. For example, I carry out controlled break-ins into servers in order to inform the administrators about the systems' weak points. I cannot live without the internet, and I cannot sit in one place and do nothing. As soon as I finish doing something, I start something new. Academic development is very important for me. That is why I keep studying.

Now, I'm doing a postgraduate program called Data Security Administrator. I also take part in national and international scientific meetings. I work quite a lot, but my primary goal is not success, but personal development. I have no concrete plans so far. I just know I'd like to stay in Poland and keep doing the things I like.