Student expectations and graduate market performance in Egypt

Abstract

This is an investigation of a series of issues pertaining to higher education in Egypt based on a sample of nearly 2,000 students and 1,700 university graduates in 1978. The main theme of the article is a comparison of student expectations and actual labour market performance. The results indicate that the relative structure of economic rewards is consistent with the operation of the forces of supply and demand. In particular, students' expectations of the labour market are in tune with the actual market conditions. The social demand for different fields of specialisation is closely linked to the expected economic rewards. A strong element of self-selection is in operation, many students follow highly undesirable subjects (such as agronomy) because of the availability of places. And as already documented in other studies, expected or actual unemployment following graduation is of extremely short duration.