Abstract
Compared to the majority population, studies have shown that non-western immigrants are more likely to work in jobs for which they are overqualified. These findings are based on coarse measures of jobs, and an important question is how sensitive these findings are to the definition of jobs. By using detailed information from Norwegian register data 2014, we provide a methodological innovation in comparing individuals working in the same occupation, industry, sector, firm, and municipality. In this way, we measure the degree of overqualification among workers within more than 653,000 jobs. We differentiate between immigrants and their descendants originating from Western Europe, the New EU countries, other Western countries, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Africa and Asia (except MENA countries), and South and Central America, and compare their outcomes with the majority population holding the same jobs. We find that immigrants from all country of origin groups are more likely to be overqualified compared to the majority population and to descendants of immigrants. However, the prevalence of overqualification decreases with time since immigration.
Highlights
Overqualification refers to a mismatch between the required qualifications for a given job, or the general educational level of individuals holding a job, and the qualifications held by the individual job occupant
We use different measurements of relative overqualification at different levels of detail ranging from coarse job definitions, to very detailed job categories
The methodological contribution of this article is twofold: we investigate whether group differences in relative overqualification persist when comparing individuals in nearly identical occupational positions, and whether the results are influenced by the choice of measurement
Summary
Overqualification refers to a mismatch between the required qualifications for a given job, or the general educational level of individuals holding a job, and the qualifications held by the individual job occupant. The successful utilization of human capital is perhaps of particular interest in the context of migration: compared to the majority population, immigrants in Western countries are more likely to be Social Inclusion, 2018, Volume 6, Issue 3, Pages 78–103 unemployed, and more likely to hold jobs for which they are overqualified (Green, Kler, & Leeves, 2007; Lindley, 2009; OECD, 2008) Such systematic differences in overqualification between immigrants and the majority may result from various mechanisms, such as discrimination, lack of recognition of qualifications obtained in foreign countries, or differences in access to informal networks and employment opportunities. None of the mechanisms discussed so far, apply to descendants of immigrants, who, for the most part, have domestic education and work experience
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