New
Perspective for Learning - Briefing Paper 10
Higher
Education & Graduate Employment in Europe
Context of the Research
The expansion of higher education
has produced an increase in the number of graduates entering the workplace.
The world of work that these graduates enter is undergoing rapid change. New
technological demands are common and new types of job roles continue to
emerge. There is a growing focus on the role played by social competencies
(affective and motivational) as opposed to knowledge. Increased
Europeanization and internationalisation also affect the nature of work in
many cases.
This project analyses the
employment and work of graduates from institutions of higher education in
eleven European countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway and Czech Republic) and
also Japan. Nine country studies were sponsored by the EU-TSER programme,
whilst the Czech Republic, Sweden and Japan conducted so called
"parallel" studies with their own research funds.
The project collected data from
more than 40,000 graduates who graduated in 1994/95 and were interviewed
four years after graduation, on their graduates’ socio-biographic
background, study paths, transition from higher education to employment,
early career, links between study and employment, their job satisfaction and
their retrospective view on higher education.
It
explored European and international dimensions of graduate employment and
work, identified early career progress, and attempted to identify the impact
of higher education on graduate employment and career success. The
project also paid special attention to graduates not finding suitable employment,
as traditionally conceived, or facing unemployment. Though graduates tend to
fare better on the labour market than non-graduates the project dealt also
with aspects of a growing frequency of social disadvantage and exclusion.
This study provides
the most thorough comparative information on graduate employment and the
links between higher education and graduate employment and work to date.
Key Conclusions
Key conclusions reached: -
1.
Graduates from institutions of higher education in most Western European
countries faced relatively positive
employment and job prospects at the time of the survey in the second
half of 1999.
2.
Some employers and politicians appear to consider that the expansion of
higher education results in “over-education”. However, there is concern
that they fail to recognise that qualification requirements rise as the
knowledge society develops.
3.
The graduates' average search period for the first regular employment
lasts only about 6 months. The average unemployment ratio is 4% - four years
after graduation, and even most graduates from fields notoriously for
employment market problems find their way towards satisfactory employment
and work a few years after graduation.
4. Approximately 20% of graduates employed four years after
graduation state that they make little professional use
of the knowledge acquired in the course of study and that their work
and employment situation is worse than expected.
5. Only 12% considered their occupational situation
inappropriate with respect to the level of their educational attainment and
were dissatisfied with their job.
6. Only 7% believe that higher education is superfluous for
their kind of work and employment situation. Only 4% would not study if they
could choose again.
7. There is a wide variation between European countries as far
as higher education and its relationship to the world of work is concerned.
This is due to a diverse range of factors such as the length of higher
education programmes, vocational versus academic provision, institutional
reputation, and the extent to which independent learning is encouraged.
8. Views varied widely between countries about the need for close
links between field of the study and related occupations, and about the
characteristics of a good graduate job.
9. This disparity has resulted in for example: -
a)
Graduates, in some countries, having to spend three times as long
searching for a job compared other countries.
b)
Only 1 or 2% of graduates in most countries being unemployed for long
periods during the first years after graduation. But this was 7-9% in three
countries and as high as 18% in one country.
c)
On average there is a 60% variation in gross annual income of full-time
employed graduates between the countries.
10.
There are also regional differences within countries. This is greatest in
the poorer countries of Western Europe than in the richer ones, thus
amplifying the disparities that exist between countries.
11.The relationship between higher education and employment and the type of
higher education provided varies in most respects more substantially by
country than by field of study. There are more frequent “national“
cultures than “disciplinary“ cultures in the relationships between
higher education and the world of work.
12.
A realistic view on the common elements and differences among Western
European countries was provided by the inclusion of the Czech Republic and
Japan in the project. For example, Japan shows that the smooth process of
study and transition to employment results in a lesser chance of students
acquiring broad experiences beyond the core domains of higher education.
They are thus being equipped with a smaller range of professionally relevant
competencies upon graduation.
13. In general, most graduates appreciate their study and believe that
learning in higher education is useful for coping with the job tasks they
undertake.
14. However, they also criticise many aspects of higher education –
certainly to a varying degree across countries and fields. Many graduates
expressed the view that higher education should prepare students better to
be in a position to apply knowledge to the work environment and to the job
tasks they are confronted with.
15.
In the majority of European countries, students spend a substantial part
of their study acquiring experiences and competencies in environments other
than the classroom. Many students consider this more valuable than
“efficient“ study in terms of a short and smooth “pass-through“.
16.
The values of students and graduates are so different and the experiences
in the world of work are so numerous that any claim for a single dominant
culture of higher education seems to be irrational.
Key Recommendations
The following key recommendations were made: -
1.
A regular system of surveying graduate employment and work is needed.
This should be 4 years after graduation, involve 3,000 graduates per country
and be conducted every 3-5 years.
2.
A European-wide conference on higher education and graduate employment in
Europe should take place in order to stimulate a Europe-wide dialogue on the
policy implications.
Further Information
The full title of the project is “Higher Education and Graduate Employment in Europe” (November 2000)
Partner
details, Website Final
Report
Contact Person
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Teichler
Universitaet Kassel
Wissenschaftliches Zentrum fuer Berufs- und Hochschulforschung (WZ I)
Moenchebergstr. 17
34109 Kassel
Germany
Tel: +49 56 18 04 24 15
Fax:
+49 56 18 04 33 01
Email:
teichler@uni-kassel.de
or
contact pjb Associates pjb@pjb.co.uk
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“New Perspectives for Learning”
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Last updated
28 June 2007