ERIC Number: ED530325
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Aug
Pages: 42
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-0-8532-8201-3
ISSN: ISSN-2045-6557
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Over-Education and the Skills of UK Graduates. CEE DP 79
Chevalier, Arnaud; Lindley, Joanne
Centre for the Economics of Education (NJ1)
During the early Nineties the proportion of UK graduates doubled over a very short period of time. This paper investigates the effect of the expansion on early labour market attainment, focusing on over-education. We define over-education by combining occupation codes and a self-reported measure for the appropriateness of the match between qualification and the job. We therefore define three groups of graduates: matched, apparently over-educated and genuinely over-educated; to compare pre- and post-expansion cohorts of graduates. We find the proportion of over-educated graduates has doubled, even though over-education wage penalties have remained stable. This suggests that the labour market accommodated most of the large expansion of university graduates. Apparently over-educated graduates are mostly undistinguishable from matched graduates, while genuinely over-educated graduates principally lack non-academic skills such as management and leadership. Additionally, genuine over-education increases unemployment by three months but has no impact of the number of jobs held. Individual unobserved heterogeneity differs between the three groups of graduates but controlling for it, does not alter these conclusions. Appended are: (1) Sample selection; and (2) First job earnings determinants--OLS. (Contains 6 figures, 9 tables and 15 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Labor Market, Salary Wage Differentials, Education Work Relationship, Educational Attainment, Underemployment, Graduate Surveys, Foreign Countries, Occupational Surveys, Outcomes of Education, Trend Analysis, Change Strategies, Educational Change, Educational Development, Employment Qualifications, Qualifications, Self Disclosure (Individuals), Job Skills, Skill Analysis, Academic Achievement, Economic Impact
Centre for the Economics of Education. London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK. Tel: +44-20-7955-7673; Fax: +44-20-7955-7595; e-mail: cee@lse.ac.uk; Web site: http://cee.lse.ac.uk
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department for Children, Schools and Families
Authoring Institution: London School of Economics & Political Science, Centre for the Economics of Education
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A