In addition, we investigate whether personality can explain additional variance in these life outcomes, even after adjusting for the effects of competencies (incremental validity).
Unfortunately, there is much confusion about the concepts of competence, competency, and competency-based education.
Therefore, our study yields valuable information on the effect of implementing undergraduate competency-based education.
The results of this model will likely overestimate the effect of education on adult competencies because educational attainment and competencies are both to some degree caused by two common third variables, family conditions and cognitive ability (confounding bias, see for example Elwert and Winship 2013).
The study offers new insights on the effects of economic competencies and supports the assumption that economic competencies are part of prerequisites of students' educational aspirations and in the long run for social participation.
Now, the effects of economic competencies are much smaller.
After adjusting for the effects of the competencies, personality could, in all cases, explain an additional proportion on the variance.
Regarding the effects of economic competencies on these transitions, there is a substantial lack within the current state of research.
Finally, although this study provides some new insights with regard to the effects of economic competencies on the educational aspirations, it cannot explain students' realised educational decisions or their academic and vocational success.
Although a remarkable number of national and international studies have focussed on the value and partially on the effects of economic competencies (e.g., Walstad et al. 2010; Förster et al. 2015; Helm 2015; etc)., most of these studies cannot explain the (long-term) effects, such as educational transition and educational success.
