Educational and Career Trajectories of Extramural Students and Graduates of Higher Education

Abstract

The results of a 2019 sociological survey conducted on a nationwide structured sample of extramural students (2019) and graduates (2000–2018) of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are used to construct the social portrait of extramural students and graduates and identify the types of their educational strategies as well as the motives that led them to extramural studies. We compare the expected and experienced effects of education on graduates’ positions in the labor market and analyze their movements within the socio-occupational hierarchy as a result of obtaining that education.Extramural students differ from full-timers in that they feature a more democratic socioeconomic composition, possess a different amount of educational resources at the enrollment stage, and have specific needs, the most important one being that of entering the labor market and/or compensating for reduced competitiveness. A large proportion of extramural students already have a vocational school diploma, which reflects the growing popularity of the bypass strategy to access higher education among certain social groups, which allows them to slip past the obligatory high-stakes testing. Educational capital of HEIs candidates (corresponding to four types of educational trajectories of extramural students) correlates with their socioeconomic backgrounds. The advantages and disadvantages of educational start extend into the next stage of education. Similarly, the socio-occupational statuses’ differentiation of extramural freshmen are further translated into different degrees of success in converting qualifications into degree-matching statuses.