Does a university degree pay off in the estonian labour market?

• Autorzy: Kerly Espenberg , Aivi Themas , Jaan Masso , Raul Eamets
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

While graduates of real sciences are considered crucial to the development of the knowledge-based economy, most European countries are still characterised by the low proportion of young people choosing to study natural and life sciences. The current research is motivated by a desire to compare the labour market performance of graduates of various disciplines to see whether there is any evidence of an over-supply of social science graduates. In this study we use the data from two waves of an Estonian survey of university alumni to analyse the labour market positions of young people with different educational backgrounds, during and after graduation, through both an economic boom and a deep recession. The results show that many students work during their studies, mostly for economic reasons. There are some signs of over-qualification and a mismatch between subjects studied and current jobs. There is a wage-premium observable between social science and real science graduates only at the master/doctoral level, not at bachelor level. This is partly explained by examining the sectors and companies where social and real sciences graduates are employed; however, a part of the gap remains unexplained.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

higher education; returns to education; academic fields

• Wydawca: Sciendo
• Czasopismo: Studies for the Learning Society
• Rocznik: 2012
• Tom: 2
• Numer: 2-3
• Strony: 46-60

Daty

wydano

2012-01-01

online

2012-04-03

Twórcy

autor

Kerly Espenberg

• University of Tartu, Estonia

autor

Aivi Themas

• University of Tartu, Estonia

autor

Jaan Masso

• University of Tartu, Estonia

autor

Raul Eamets

• University of Tartu, Estonia

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Identyfikatory

DOI

10.2478/v10240-012-0003-4