The proportion of postsecondary graduates reached an all-time high in 2010, as the Island's working population aged 25 to 64 continued to progress towards achieving a higher level of education according to a new analytical census brief.The brief, entitled 'Education: Springboard to Employment and Higher Earnings', examined progress in educational attainment between 2000 and 2010 and explored differences in occupations and earnings based on the highest academic qualification achieved.A Government press release said : “This brief is particularly relevant as the Island ranked 20th out of the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. This ties Bermuda with the OECD average of 31 percent of the population aged 25 to 64 years with a university degree.”Based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, the proportion of the population aged 25 to 64 years old with postsecondary education was a record 52 percent, compared with 50 percent a decade earlier.The majority of these graduates completed at least a bachelor's degree.Nearly half, or 47 percent, of non-Bermudians have completed a university degree compared to 25 percent of Bermudians.The higher percentage of non-Bermudian degree holders reflects directly the recruitment of workers from overseas to fill positions at the professional, senior official and managerial levels, according to the report.The level of educational attainment is one of the most important factors influencing socio-economic well-being.One's level of education can influence the types of occupations available to him or her and ultimately the amount of income that could potentially be earned, according to the press release.As education levels increase, median income from main job rises.Persons who possess a university degree and work as senior officials or managers earned the highest median income of $117,866.In contrast, service and sales workers with no academic certificates earned the least at $36,703.Unemployment rates were highest for people with no academic certificates and lowest for persons holding degrees.The report also shows that the unemployment rate for people with no academic qualifications reached 6.7 percent in 2010. Nearly one in every six people had no academic certificates in the 25 to 64 year-old age group.Graphic charts show the geographic distribution of the 5,683 persons aged 25 to 64 years who had not received any formal academic certificates.The largest concentrations of people with no academic qualifications were in NE Hamilton and eastern Pembroke.University degree holders increased by 29 percent from 2000 to 2010. Of those who became parents while a teenager, 29 percent had no academic certificates and were employed primarily as clerks.By 2010, women had the higher proportion of degrees, 34 percent compared to men at 27 percent.Non-Bermudian men were twice as likely (16 percent) to have no academic certificates compared to eight percent of their female colleagues, while whites were twice as likely to have a university degree than blacks.In 2010, 18 percent of Bermuda's black population in this age group had no academic qualifications.Nearly half, or 45 percent of the white population had a university degree compared with less than one-quarter or 22 percent of blacks and a third of persons of mixed and other races.The proportion of university degree holders declines as the age increases.Additionally, ten percent of those in the 25 to 34 year age group had no academic qualifications compared with 26 percent of those between 55 to 64 years.The earning gap narrowed between men and women, in both 2010 and 2000. Men earned more from their main job than women at every level of educational attainment.The difference in income declined significantly from a 13 percent gap in 2000 to one percent in 2010.Whites earned 31 percent more in 2000 compared to 37 percent more in 2010.This is largely a result of a nine percentage point increase in earnings for white university degree holders over black university degree holders in the same period.Whites with an academic qualification one level less than blacks and persons of mixed and other races earned more, on average, in every instance with the exception of at the bachelor's degree level for blacks and the doctoral degree level for mixed and other races.The report showed, however, that Bermudians earned more at lower educational levels when compared to non-Bermudians. But at the non-university degree level, the level of earnings for Bermudians compared with non-Bermudians increased by only 3 percentage points.In 2010, 74 percent of Bermuda's workforce was Bermudian, with 26 percent non-Bermudian. Bermudians with a university degree (29 percent) were more likely to hold the highest paying senior posts than non-Bermudian degree holders (28 percent).However, non- Bermudians were nearly three times as likely to be employed in the lowest paying group of service workers and sales workers.The unemployment rates were highest for people with no academic certificates. The 2010 Census counted 1,072 unemployed people aged 25 to 64, that figure is up from the 619 recorded in 2000.The rates peaked for the male population at 7.6 percent who reported having no certificates. The female population “experienced the lowest unemployment rates at all education levels, with the exception of at the degree level”.Blacks had higher unemployment rates than whites at every level of education attainment, while unemployment rates for the white population with no formal qualifications topped off at three percent.Figures for blacks nearly tripled that amount at 8.7 percent.It was noted in the report that “this is an area that may require further study to explain the stark difference”.Ten percent of the people in the allotted age group became parent during their teenage years, some 3,711.Of that total, 40 percent attained high school diplomas, 29 percent had no certificates and 22 percent achieved technical or vocational diplomas or associate degrees.And 28 percent of those who became teenage parents held jobs as clerks while 25 percent were service or sales workers. Only 25 percent worked as professionals or senior office managers compared with 42 percent of the total population.Teenage parents with higher levels of education also earned higher incomes from their main job, with university degree holders earning 85 percent more on average than those with no academic qualifications.More information about Bermuda's educational attainment is available online at www.statistics.gov.bm.