Graduate Labour Market Research Articles

Signaling standout graduate employability: The employer perspective

AbstractThis study examines employers' graduate employability expectations. In an overcrowded graduate labour market, employers must distinguish between equally qualified graduates to determine ‘standout employability’. Grounded in a dramaturgical perspective, we integrate concepts of skilful social action with signaling theory to extend the processual conceptualization of graduate employability. We report a qualitative abductive analysis of employers' expectations of graduates' employability performances. We theorise that employers frame and decode signals of standout employability from graduates' narrations of experientially referenced skilful social action. These form the dramaturgical backdrop from which employers infer unique personal brand assets and qualities they associate with standout employability. Our analysis has important implications for higher education (HE), human resource management and career counselling practitioners. It indicates that the employability value of non‐HE experience is as a backdrop for the dramaturgical performance of graduate employability rather than for the acquisition of work‐related skills or the enablement of work ready behaviours.

Regulating the timing of job search: evidence from the labor market for new college graduates

In entry-level labor markets, students search for post-graduation positions well in advance of their actual start dates, prompting debates over regulating job search timing. This study examines a unique case concerning the new college graduate labor market in Japan, where a guideline revision successfully delayed the timing of job searches and forced market participants to search under a shorter horizon. Based on differential exposures to the guideline revision across regions, I find that the revision significantly increased the employment rate at graduation. No positive effect was observed on students’ human capital investment. Additional analyses offers one plausible interpretation, that the positive employment effect was driven by thick market externality.

The anticipatory psychological contract of management graduates: Validating a psychological contract expectations questionnaire

Background: It was proposed that if we assess an individual’s mental schema, it may facilitate a better understanding of the psychological contract formation process. This will add a theoretical contribution to the anticipatory psychological contract research, as it will enhance our understanding of the specific terms of the psychological contract, which are only present during the organisation entry phase.Aim: We aimed at developing and validating an instrument to measure the psychological contract expectation of university graduate labour market entrees. This information could enhance our knowledge of both the anticipatory psychological contract and psychological contract development.Setting: The research was conducted on third-year students from two different campuses of a South African university. The sample consisted of a total of 316 participants.Methods: We used an exploratory quantitative research approach to measure prospective employees’ anticipatory psychological contract. The newly developed Psychological Contract Expectations Questionnaire (PCEQ) was administered and analysed.Results: Results indicated that some of the instruments within the PCEQ are reliable and valid to measure the anticipatory psychological contract of graduates. The descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient results clearly enhanced our understanding of how the anticipatory psychological contract works.Conclusion: Our research contributes to anticipatory psychological contract research by introducing the PCEQ questionnaire to effectively measure the anticipatory obligations, anticipatory expectations, entitlement and anticipatory state of the psychological contract of prospective employees’ mental schema.

THE JOB EXCHANGES FOR GRADUATES IN ROMANIA – THE ASSESSMENT OF THE TERRITORIAL DISPARITIES

The job exchanges for graduates represent the major offer-and-demand framework organised by the majority of territorial structures of the National Employment Agency, which have a pyramidal/hierarchic structure. The paper focuses on supply and demand territorial aspects on the labour market for graduates; how employer demand is conveyed to graduates and how well the skills that young people gain are utilized on the job. The present study represents a quantitative assessment of the job supply and demand for graduates and a qualitative territorial assessment of the results recorded by the job-exchange for this category of young labour force. This latter approach is based on a series of 7 indicators, in order to point out the main territorial characteristics of the job exchange for graduates. The general assessment index (calculated like the arithmetical average of the standardized values of the indicators selected) varies between 0 and 0.762, the agencies for employment being divided in four categories: 1 - “No activity and no results“, 2 - “Very low activity and very few results” and “Low activity and very few result“, 3 - “Low activity and few results” and 4 - “Moderate activity and good results”.

Failing to level the playing field: student discourses on graduate employability

ABSTRACT Despite decades of efforts to promote social mobility, studying for higher education maintains or even exacerbates social inequalities. Interventions, including employability classes and careers advice and guidance, have not succeeded in ‘levelling the playing field’ for students. To understand why inequalities persist despite these efforts, it is important to understand how students from different backgrounds acquire and apply various forms of capital. The graduate capital model is used in this article to explore how five dimensions of capital (human, social, cultural, identity and psychological dimensions) interact, drawing on data from interviews with high and low socio-economic status (SES) university students. While in general lower-SES students found employability classes helpful in equipping them with the human capital required in order to succeed on today’s graduate labour market, in contrast to their high-SES peers they struggled to understand the importance of and mobilise this and other forms of capital promoted in those classes. The crucial forms of capital that seem to interact with all other capitals are social and psychological. Universities therefore need to find a way to help low-SES students build and apply these forms of capital and alleviate barriers to their mobilisation.

Proposal to Improve Employability and Facilitate Entrepreneurship among Graduates of the Master’s Degree in Institutional Translation of the University of Alicante


 The aim of this article is to describe the strategies included in our proposal to improve employability and facilitate entrepreneurship among graduates of the Master’s Degree in Institutional Translation. Firstly, this paper takes as a starting point the survey data collected by the Technical Unit for Quality Assessment (UTC) at the University of Alicante. This data shows the evaluation done by the graduates of the Master’s Degree in Institutional Translation on the competences preparing them for graduate labour market outcomes and entrepreneurship. Secondly, it explains the different curricular and extracurricular activities, as well as elective subjects, which are either being carried out at the moment or to be implemented in the future, so that students can develop the competences that the translator’s profession requires. The paper also mentions the role played by each institutional party involved in this collaborative action and proposes measures to consolidate and further develop the initiative.

The Effects of a Master’s Degree on Wage and Job Satisfaction in Massified Higher Education: The Case of South Korea

Despite the massive expansion of postgraduate education in many countries, few studies have been performed to examine the association between graduates possessing a master’s degree and their labour market outcomes. We therefore used panel survey data from the 2011 to 2013 Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey to analyse the effects of master’s degrees on wage levels and job satisfaction in South Korea, which has experienced a rapid expansion of postgraduate education. We found that master’s degrees are, overall, associated negatively with wage levels, but positively with job satisfaction. These effects, however, differed by discipline, with a master’s degree in a hard discipline being significantly associated with higher job satisfaction, but a master’s degree in a soft discipline being significantly associated with lower wages. We interpreted these results in light of the economic and social contexts of higher education and the labour market for graduates in Korea. Our results have policy implications at the national and institutional levels in terms of qualification frameworks, curricula, employability and institutional support for career development, with consideration for differences between disciplines.

The changing value of higher education as a currency of opportunity

PurposeThe worldwide expansion of higher education participation has destabilised the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity. An increasing number of graduates are experiencing the precarity of unemployment, under-employment and low salaries. This study aimed to investigate how university students in China understand and respond to the changing relationship between higher education and career opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe research team conducted 100 in-depth interviews with final-year undergraduates at one elite and one lower-tier university in a metropolitan city in Guangdong Province.FindingsThe students were acutely aware of fierce competition in the graduate labour market. When asked “what matters most” for post-graduation career prospects, they identified elite universities and high-status fields of study as “traditional” currencies of opportunity. Nonetheless, to stand out in a competitive environment, they perceived a growing need to supplement higher education credentials through university experiences (internships, student governance, study abroad programmes), party membership, personal connections and (overseas) postgraduate education. Moreover, in a “race to the top”, they discussed how qualitatively distinctive university experiences and elite postgraduate education are “new” currencies of opportunity for high-status professional employment.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates how intensified competition for graduate employment can result in an “opportunity trap”. The students were participating in an “arms race” to accumulate positional advantages for their post-graduation careers. The net impact of such efforts on a systemic level is to create an upward spiral in what students are expected to do in preparation for their post-graduation careers and further destabilise the value of higher education as a currency of opportunity.

The changing nature of graduate roles and the value of the degree

ABSTRACT This study explores industry perspectives on the changing nature of graduate roles and the importance of the undergraduate degree, and any impact these have on traditional non-graduate roles in different sectors and industries. Amid declining labour markets, it is critical to consider graduate pathways to employment and the implications of increasing numbers entering non-graduate roles on expectations and turnover. Ongoing disequilibrium in many areas of the graduate labour market points to developing our understanding of alternative pathways into professional roles beyond the undergraduate degree. Interviews were conducted with twenty-one industry members involved in recruiting and/or supervising new graduates. Findings affirmed overeducation among new recruits, highlighting the need for more transparency on employment prospects to prospective higher education students. While there has been extensive research exploring employer perceptions on graduates’ preparedness for employment, there has been less consideration of alternative, developmental pathways into entry-level roles to collectively improve youth employment prospects.

The technology of automation of the preparation of the educational programs of university in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education 3++

The article discusses the experience of automation developing educational programs of university (EdProgram). The analysis of the results of the project of software creating to preparе components of EdProgram according to the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education of the latest generation (FSES 3+) at the Bashkir State Agrarian University is given. The developed software product is created by extension technology of 1C:Enterprise 8.3 platform and expands the functionality of 1C:University PROF information system.The article actualizes the need to use automation tools in modern conditions when developing and updating the components of the EdPrograms are based on the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education. The proposed approach allows you to take into account the requirements of professional standards, as well as the requirements of employers (labor market) for graduates. The names of indicators of achievement of professional competencies are the names of the labor functions of the professional standards, the implementation of which requires the graduate to perform certain labor activities (skills) of the professional standards, acquisition relevant knowledge and skills as learning outcomes in the disciplines and practices of the higher education and vocational education and training institute of higher education, including those formulated as specific employer requirements.The proposed approach in the field of creating an automated technology for the preparation of EdProgram components on the basis of professional standards in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education 3++ can be used by any university operating the 1C:University of PROF.

O mercado de trabalho dos egressos de cursos superiores em turismo

Ainda que haja muito debate acerca da formação em turismo, incluindo grupos de trabalho em muitos eventos, há, do outro lado, pouca informação acerca da empregabilidade dos egressos desses cursos. Houve ao longo do tempo um distanciamento notório entre os interesses dos formadores e dos contratantes, sendo os primeiros mais voltados à construção acadêmica e humanística dos graduandos e os últimos com foco em profissionais com habilidades adquiridas de forma adequada durante seu período de formação. A partir da comparação entre os dados da atuação profissional dos egressos de cursos superiores em turismo 2012 e 2018, o presente artigo discute o mercado de trabalho de egressos de cursos superiores no Brasil, no que diz respeito às principais atividades, setores de atuação e remuneração. Baseia-se em dados primários e secundários, com caráter descritivo e enfoque qualitativo na interpretação dos dados. Entre os principais resultados destacam-se que o mercado de trabalho em turismo não é tão diversificado quanto se pensa e se ensina nos cursos de turismo já que se percebe concentração de turismólogos em uma única ou poucas áreas de atuação; uma percepção da melhora discreta na remuneração e aumento da participação de docentes no mercado e o aumento de respondentes ligados ao setor público.

Demand for Graduates – as a Criterion for Assessing the Quality of Educational Services and University Activities

The article is devoted to the analysis of the demand for university graduates as an indicator of assessing the quality of educational services and university activities. The purpose of the article, based on a survey among students and interviews among employers, is to show factors that positively or negatively affect the demand for university graduates in the modern labor market through the prism of students and employers themselves. The main direction of the study is to show the main areas of partnership that affect the quality of educational services and the demand for graduates. The theoretical and methodological basis of scientific research are studies on the demand for university graduates in the modern labor market and the criteria for evaluating educational services. When writing the article, the methods of factor and sociological analysis are used. Actual data are collected through questionnaires among students and interviews among employers. The significance of this study lies in the identification of complex parameters for assessing the level of quality of educational services as one of the indicators of the demand for university graduates in the labor market. The results of the study in practical terms provide partnership methods between universities and employers in the formation of a specialist in a new format and provide aggregate indicators for determining the demand for university graduates.

Maintaining the promise without killing the dream: Developing resilience for future ‘graduate’ careers

Significant numbers of recent graduates continue to enter non-graduate roles. Against this backdrop, there is a need to consider how students and graduates can be prepared for the graduate labour market. Resilience is represented as a key attribute for successfully navigating this challenging and complex labour market. Drawing on empirical research with higher education careers practitioners, we examine approaches to supporting graduates in developing ‘resilience’ against a backdrop of competing stakeholder priorities. We highlight the challenges of acknowledging transition experiences that are counter to dominant notions of successful graduate outcomes. We advocate support for practitioners to provide realistic insights into the graduate labour market.

‘He who is silent is taken to agree’: University careers services and the problem of unpaid graduate internships

Unpaid graduate internships (UGIs) are a controversial feature of the UK graduate labour market. Drawing on Watts’s socio-political ideologies, this article examines how university careers services and practitioners engage with this issue in policy and practice, using data from interviews with careers managers and practitioners. It reveals that practitioners are sometimes reluctant to engage directly with the ethical issues surrounding UGIs, and that some careers interventions which support individuals may arguably help to perpetuate this unfair practice. I contend that careers professionals nonetheless have a moral duty to take action on UGIs, putting ethics at the heart of their work.

Rethinking disadvantage: A social capital approach to widening participation

In England and Wales, the introduction of ?9,250 higher education (HE) tuition fees and concern more broadly about social mobility has led to the creation of a series of initiatives aimed at widening participation (WP). Increasingly, critics argue that these initiatives have failed to achieve genuine representativeness, with lower ranked universities absorbing higher numbers of students from underrepresented groups, who then face additional challenges in securing progression to employment. In this article, we examine dominant narratives in WP programmes in England and Wales in order to assert means of widening access more effectively, in the first instance, but also retention and progression. Rejecting non-subject-specific instrumental approaches that focus directly on graduate labour market value and earnings, we argue that effective WP ought to focus centrally on the institutional value of HE and on fostering social capital, especially in lower ranked universities whose graduates are already discriminated against in the labour market. To this end, we evaluate the deployment of a politics-based WP programme, Rethinking Disadvantage, asserting a set of conclusions for colleagues in other disciplines and institutions who seek to develop their own approaches.

Expectation and interaction: Student and employer approaches to university careers fairs

This article sets out to explore why those who attend university careers fairs choose to do so; what expectations they have and how these are formed; what motivates attendance; and how do they themselves understand these choices. Furthermore, it aims to determine their interpretation of what happens at these events and the extent to which careers fairs facilitate access to the graduate labour market. This paper concludes that rationales for attending are unique to the individual and expectations are manifold for students and recruiters alike, often based on intricate combinations of agency, structure and capital.

Factors in a Sustainable Labor Market: Evidence from New College Graduates’ Initial Job Placement in Korea

Young Koreans have been experiencing stress and employment barriers due to progressively worsening employment issues since the late 1990s. College graduates spend excessive amounts of time job hunting, necessitating institutional and policy measures to improve their initial labor-market performance. We, therefore, attempt to empirically analyze the relevant factors. Focusing on sustainable job quality, company size, wages, and satisfaction levels for students’ first jobs after graduation, and we specifically use college education quality and graduates’ employment-preparation activities as independent variables and initial labor-market performance as a dependent variable. First, we measure education quality using vocational education and training, satisfaction with college education, and studying a language abroad. We find that they are positively associated with new graduates’ initial labor-market performance. Second, we measure employment preparation activities using internship experience, certificates obtained, and scores on standardized English exams. Internship experiences are positively associated with new graduates’ initial labor-market performance. These findings suggest that the Korean government should focus on establishing a sustainable labor market for new graduates and offer specific, diverse support programs to improve employment among young Koreans.

Is a university degree still a worthwhile financial investment in Australia?

Since 2006 there have been significant changes in the labour market for university graduates, most notably the Global Financial Crisis of 2007 and the subsequent downturn in gross domestic product growth, and a huge expansion in university places. This article presents estimates of the monetary returns in Australia associated with the completion of bachelor degrees in 2016 for a range of fields of study and compares them to the estimates for 2006. The results show that for the median person, there are still good monetary incentives to complete these degrees and the private rate of return compares favourably with the long-term real bond rate. However, the article also concludes that the return to an individual investing in bachelor education had mostly declined in the period 2006–2016. There is, again, considerable variation between disciplines and for some, completion of a bachelor degree does not yield positive returns. The key factors determining the monetary rate of return are the discipline of the degree and the graduates’ subsequent labour force status. Graduates in full-time employment in most disciplines avoided being among those with low (or negative) rates of return. In addition, there is some evidence of skills mismatch and over skilling among the lowest paid university graduates.

Teaching students of economic specialties to collaborate in ESP classes

The article deals with the methodology of teaching students majoring in economic specialties to collaborate as one of the four key skills of the 21st century (4C) while teaching “English for Specific Purposes”. The urge to develop the ability to work effectively in a team arises from the lack of correlation between the needs of the labour market and proficiency level of graduates. Educators and business communities emphasise the importance of mastering collaborative strategies during university studies since this raises graduates’ competitiveness; though teachers use collaboration techniques when teaching a foreign language. Collaborative learning is often used only as a means of teaching other content, not as a method of improving collaboration skills. The article analyses the Ukrainian university graduates’ proficiency level, identifies the basic prerequisites for teaching collaboration and considers the methods of developing collaboration skills in teaching a foreign language. The development of these skills is determined by the collaboration of teachers while planning curricula and in the teaching process. The results of the research conducted at Tavria State Agrotechnological University are presented. The recommendations on how to create the conditions for productive collaboration of students when solving problems are given; the basic requirements for these tasks are specified. Some examples of group work that contribute to enhancing collaborative skills to achieve a common goal are given; the role of the teacher as a facilitator and an observer who promotes students’ effective collaboration is determined. According to the results of the study, a significant increase in students’ knowledge and skills and their psychological readiness to collaborate in their future professional activity, which seems to be more important, was noted. It is proved that teaching collaboration is a desirable result and an achievable goal of learning a foreign language at university.

Investigating the relationship between career planning, proactivity and employability perceptions among higher education students in uncertain labour market conditions

This paper addresses the limited empirical analysis of higher education students’ perceptions of contemporary labour market demands. It explores their perspectives on the health of the graduate labour market, what factors determine these and how their perceptions relate to self-perceived employability, career proactivity, career control and efforts to develop positional advantage. Further, the study examines determinants of students’ career planning, all in the context of a challenging graduate labour market and higher education systems that have become more market-driven. The paper draws on evidence from a survey among Australian and UK students (N = 433), from two institutions and across a range of disciplines. Data revealed a number of significant findings. Overall, students who reported more positive perceptions of the current labour market were more likely to develop higher self-perceptions of employability, believe they had a greater sense of control over their career yet were less engaged with proactive career behaviours. Students perceived employability, their sense of career control and their reported career proactivity positively determined their engagement in career planning. The study enhances our understanding of the impact of labour market demand-side factors on student approaches to careers. It raises significant implications for universities and their career practitioners in identifying ways of enhancing students’ career planning strategies within a more challenging labour market context.