A geography graduate's transition into the labour market in Poland:a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the process

Transition, i.e. the education-to-work shift, is considered one of the most important processes in human life. The characteristics of transition hinge on, first of all, the labour market situation, the economic climate in the region, the educational services market and the aspirations of society. Virtually unlimited access to education at an academic level and the growing appetite of young people for degrees have resulted in a rapid increase in the number of university graduates. Consequently, there has been a high supply of employees with university degrees. However, the speed and type of transition among recent graduates is one of the least investigated processes on the labour market in Poland. The article presents the results of a survey on how Polish geographers enter the job market. The study compares geographers' professional qualifications, aspirations and plans about their future job at the time of graduation with the actual fulfilment of those plans six months later. Quantitative analysis of the process shows that half the graduates have succeeded in finding employment. Qualitative analysis of the type of jobs shows that the university-to-work transition was unsatisfactory in many respects. For example, the new position was unlikely to require the graduates to use the competences acquired during the course of study, the job offered limited career development opportunities and had a low remuneration. All the above raise concerns regarding the limited opportunity for successful transition and the respondents' low satisfaction level.

Powstawanie niedoborów kadrowych w szkolnictwie. Przegląd stanu badań oraz rekomendacje dla lokalnej polityki w zakresie usług edukacyjnych

Staff shortages in education sector are an important topic in international research in the field of education services and regional development. Even though this issue has gained importance also in Poland, it has not been explored by academics. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to describe the processes responsible for teacher shortages and outline actions that would mitigate the risk of unfilled vacancies in education sector which is an important role of regional policy. The literaturereview has demonstrated that the teacher recruitment process has become considerably longer and often fails. This situation applies to many countries, a variety of education institutions and multiple subject domains. Processes that clearly intensify staff shortages include the leakage of teachers who permanently leave the profession. This phenomenon is particularly acute among young teachers and in countries where teachers’ salaries are significantly lower compared to other sectors of the economy and where teachers find it easy to get a different, more financially rewarding job. Next, staff shortages escalate also due to teacher aging and a growing interest in alternative career paths. Actions that successfully prevent these issues include, first of all, ensuring financial satisfaction. Decent salaries are a means to stop the trend where teachers are leaving the profession and improve the occupational prestige as well as boost the interest in teaching degrees among young people. Moreover, it is recommended that systemic support measures aimed at integrating and socialising young teachers into the school environment are implemented. Such measures include programmes and mentoring services where teachers can receive counselling and have opportunities for professional development. Another way of mitigating staff shortages are high quality human resources policies, i.e. staff retention where school principals are able to keep teachers in employment even though there is no vacancy for their subject. Thanks to that schools minimise staff turnover and can fill the expected and future vacancies with competent specialists who are already familiar with the school environment.Niedobory kadrowe w szkolnictwie są w literaturze światowej ważnym przedmiotem badań nad usługami edukacyjnymi i rozwojem regionalnym. Problem ten, choć staje się ważki także w Polsce, dotąd nie był naukowo zgłębiany. Dlatego celemartykułu jest scharakteryzowanie procesów skutkujących niedoborami nauczycieli oraz działań sprzyjających obniżeniu ryzyka utraty płynności kadr w systemie edukacji jako ważnego zadania dla polityki regionalnej. W wyniku studiów literatury ustalono, że do niedoborów dochodzi przede wszystkim na skutek tzw. „wyciekania” z zawodu młodych nauczycieli, senioralizacji profesji oraz upowszechniania się alternatywnych modeli karier. Za działania skutecznie zapobiegające temu problemowi uznaje się m.in. „retencjonowanie kadr” i systemowe wspieranie integracji oraz socjalizacji młodych nauczycieli ze środowiskiem szkolnym

The situation of geography teachers on the labour market in Poland : overt and covert issues

Economic, social and cultural changes generate new challenges on the labour market for teachers in every country. Poland has recently witnessed significant changes in factors that were identified in literature as crucial to the situation of teachers on the labour market, such as systemic reforms, demographic trends, the overall situation on the labour market and occupational prestige. The scale and impact of some of these factors can be precisely measured and statistically accounted for, yet there are others that remain somehow hidden. The objective of the article is to present and analyse the current situation of geography teachers in Poland, taking into account the impact of both overt and covert factors. The paper is based on an analysis of primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected during our own research on online job advertisements and revolved around information on the real demand for geography teachers. Secondary data were official reports and statistics related to the social and professional standing of teachers in Poland. The analysis proves that in the last ten years the population of teachers has aged and experienced a drop in real wages. There has also been an increase in staff turnover and patchwork careers. Moreover, we have observed that it is highly unlikely to secure a full-time position as a geography teacher and that there have been huge fluctuations in the prestige of geography as a school subject. The identified changes can result in a shortage of qualified geography teachers in the short term, particularly in cities

Key processes shaping the current role and operation of higher education institutions in society

The concurrent processes of globalisation, computerisation, and integration shape and constantly modify developmental factors and generate multidirectional social changes. Among social life fields, one of them has been particularly sensitive to the impact of those processes and has remained in clear feedback relationship with them is education, including university-level education. This article aims to present some reflections on the key processes which influence the environment of higher education institutions’ activity and on what their impact specifically is. The factors taken into account include: the transformation of the political and economic system, integration with the European higher education area, the market shift of education, evolving social demands towards higher education institutions and society’s attitude towards work. As knowledge has become an asset largely affecting the quality of life of people and society, universities have changed their focus from searching for and exploring truth, good and beauty in the world towards becoming innovation centres, transferring knowledge as offering their educational services. In this article, those trends have been exemplified in relation to geography degree programmes, and shown through an evolution of the model of the university. Based on a review of the literature, it seems that the processes discussed also concern geography degree programmes, and the future operation of these programmes closely depends on whether they can maintain their care for high quality education coupled with genuine efforts to ensure the smooth transition of graduates into the labour market

Educational services on an academic level in the context of the demands of the labour market

The transformation of the political system in Poland brought, apart from obvious profits, a number of negative consequences. One of the crucial socio-economic problems is unemployment, which also affects the graduates of higher education. One of the most important reasons for this unfavourable situation is traditional concept of academic education, not always correlating with the needs of employers. Previous curricula strategies resulted in some majors being perceived as a pass to low paid occupations or unemployment. According to many scholars, thinking about academic education mainly as the step for being employed after graduation is oversimplifying the role of higher education. This outlook does not take into consideration very dynamic changes in services (also educational services on an academic level) in socio-economic development and the fact that one of the principal purposes of modern higher education is to produce graduates who are able to succeed in the workplace and who can make worthwhile contributions to organisations where they are employed. Such aspirations are common for candidates for students who estimate the probability of finding a good job after graduation. The experiences of the West European countries in this area show that in few years it will be very important to design such curricula which provide education as close to employers’ expectations of the graduates as possible. The paper presents the results of the literature studies concerning modern concepts of higher education in reference to the needs of the labour market

Selected Determinants of Higher Education Graduates Transition into Labour Market

The transition of university graduates in the 21st century from the stage of education to employment seems to be one of the most complex and difficult processes taking place at the labour market. The transition paths of people who finish studies in individual countries are mainly an effect of differences in economic level and economy conditions, social and cultural disparities and system differences, including the teaching systems. The efficiency of this process, apart from demographic and macroeconomic trends is influenced by accumulation of "career capital" especially the ability of transferring skills enquired in higher education into potential and real workplaces, individual and personal features, such as: aspirations, adaptability. The purpose of this paper is to present the determinants influencing the successful transition of graduates into the labor. The empirical research results based on theoretical considerations exemplify the influence of selected determinants, belonging to the group of educational capital, on the pace and nature of the transition to the labor market in the European countries and among the geography graduates in Poland

Looking for methodological innovations in qualitative research – analyses of geography graduates’ transition to the labour market

Celem autorki było zaproponowanie wprowadzenia częściowo zmodyfikowanej metody pól semantycznych do analizy i interpretacji dłuższych odpowiedzi na pytania otwarte w badaniach z zakresu geografii społecznej i dydaktyki geografii. Opracowanie zawiera opis klasycznej metody pól semantycznych oraz zakres jej modyfikacji, wykonanej na potrzeby realizacji badań poświęconych procesowi wchodzenia absolwentów studiów geograficznych na rynek pracy wraz z przykładowymi rezultatami zastosowania tej metody. Tak prowadzona analiza odpowiedzi na pytanie otwarte, oprócz przetransponowania zawartości treści na dane ilościowe, pozwoliła na metodycznie uzasadnione, przejrzyste i relatywnie łatwe w dalszej procedurze badawczej porównywanie wyników i formułowanie prawidłowości dotyczących jakościowych wymiarów eksplorowanego zagadnienia. Możliwości, które stwarza zarówno klasyczna jak i zmodyfikowana metoda pól semantycznych, wydają się czynić ją przydatną także w badaniach dotyczących procesu kształcenia, zwłaszcza w takich jego aspektach, jak efektywność, jakość i satysfakcja.The aim of the paper is to propose using the adopted and partly modified semantic field method for the analysis and interpretation of longer answers for open questions in social geography and educational surveys. The article consists of both the classic semantic field method description and the scope of its modification done for surveying geography graduates’ transition to the labour market. It also presents some results of this transition process which would not be possible to identify without using the modified semantic field method during the analysis of the collected material. The modified semantic field method, apart from transforming qualitative material into quantitative data, allows for a methodologically explained, clear, easy process of analysing, as well as concluding and formulating rules devoted to quantitative spheres of the problem. Benefits of using both the classic and modified semantic field method seem to encourage scientists to use it in educational studies and surveys. The most suitable topics for using the method in educational studies are those devoted to the effectiveness, quality and satisfaction

Wybrane determinanty przedsiębiorczości indywidualnej – zarys stanu badań

Przedsiębiorczość indywidualna jest jednym z ważniejszych czynników rozwoju społeczno- gospodarczego regionów w rożnej skali układów przestrzennych oraz istotnym sposobem uelastyczniania rynku pracy. Studia specjalistycznej literatury jednoznacznie wskazują na istnienie wielu determinant wpływających na skłonność jednostki do samo zatrudnienia. Są to zarówno kwestie ekonomiczne (np. poziom rozwoju gospodarczego, sytuacja na rynku pracy, polityka fiskalna), jak i pozaekonomiczne (np. płeć, wiek, wykształcenie, stan cywilny, posiadanie dzieci, wcześniejsze doświadczenie na rynku pracy). Celem autorki artykułu jest dokonanie przeglądu krajowych i zagranicznych prac teoretycznych, poświęconych determinantom przedsiębiorczości indywidualnej, a także syntezy wyników badań, weryfikujących wpływ czynników pozaekonomicznych na poziom samozatrudnienia. Przeprowadzone badania literaturowe, dotyczące roli czynników ekonomicznych w podejmowaniu samozatrudnienia wskazują, że w ujęciu międzynarodowym jego poziom pozostaje przede wszystkim w ścisłym związku z wartością PKB. W grupie czynników pozaekonomicznych dowiedziono zaś znaczącego wpływu płci, wieku, stanu cywilnego oraz poziomu wykształcenia na skłonność do rozpoczęcia działalności gospodarczej.Individual entrepreneurship is among the key factors of social and economic development of regions in various scales of spatial settings. It is also an important way of increasing the flexibility of the labor market. Specialist literature clearly shows that there is a multitude of determinants influencing an individual’s willingness to become self-employed. They include both economic factors (e.g. the level of economic development, labor market situation, fiscal policy) and non-economic ones (e.g. the person’s gender, age, education level, marital status, whether or not the person has children, the person’s previous experience on the labor market). This paper serves the following purposes: a review of Polish and foreign theoretical studies on the determinants of individual entrepreneurship; a synthesis of the findings of studies verifying the impact of non-economic factors on an individual’s decision to become self-employed. Literature studies on the economic factors’ role on individuals’ decision to become self-employed show that, internationally, the scale of self-employment is essentially in close correlation with the GDP. Among the non-economic factors, gender, age, marital status and education level have been demonstrated to significantly influence the willingness to start one’s own business

A Graduate's First Job: Expectations of Graduates and the Fulfillment of Their Plans

The transition of recent graduates to the labour market, including the labour market destinations they hold in comparison to their aspirations and plans, seems to be an under researched area. Especially interesting and important for higher education management policy is recognition of their first job destinations and the relevance between the study subject and real occupation. The article presents results of a survey on how Polish geographers enter the job market. The study compares geographers' professional qualifications, aspirations and plans about their future job expressed at the time of graduation with the actual fulfilment of those plans six months later. The background for the analysis is a study of the labour market destinations among Polish and international geographers over the last thirty years

Problematyka pracy w badaniach z zakresu turystyki w Polsce w XXI wieku: ewolucja nurtów, paradygmatów i podejść

This paper presents results of the literature review from the field of tourism and recreation covering Polish research papers published in the years 2000–2017. The literature review concerns the main issues related to the labour market in tourism economy. This study examines publications in specialist journals, monographs, monograph chapters and a ministerial report on this topic. The aim of the literature review was to establish the evolution of the discussed topics, adopted paradigms and research perspectives. The study was conducted from two points of view, i.e. as a classic textual analysis and as an exploratory analysis performed using Statistica Data Miner software. The analysis indicated that there was a modest but growing number of publications by tourism and recreation specialists and the topics investigated by the researchers were closely related to the changes on the labour market. The subject matter evolved from issues concerning the significance of tourism in boosting demand for labour, the level and structure of demand for specialists in this sector, as well as research focused on the role of employees in efficient operation of tourism enterprises. At the beginning of the 21st century the dominant research trends were based on a positivist paradigm, quantitative structural and functional, as well as economic and spatial analyses. However, these trends were gradually replaced by an interpretative paradigm and humanistic, behavioural, sociological, and interdisciplinary approaches.Artykuł prezentuje efekty przeglądu publikacji z zakresu turystyki i rekreacji, które ukazały się w Polsce w latach 2000–2017 i były poświęcone szeroko pojętej problematyce rynku pracy w gospodarce turystycznej. Badaniami objęto tylko opracowania zamieszczone w czasopismach specjalistycznych, monografie, rozdziały w monografiach oraz tematyczny raport ministerialny. Celem studiów literatury było ustalenie ewolucji nurtów tematycznych oraz przyjmowanych w nich paradygmatów i orientacji badawczych. Prowadzono je z dwóch perspektyw, czyli jako klasyczną analizę tekstu oraz analizę eksploracyjną z zastosowaniem programu Statisica Data Miner. Badania dowiodły, że problematyka ta cieszyła się niewielkim, ale rosnącym zainteresowaniem specjalistów z zakresu turystyki i rekreacji, a podejmowana przez nich tematyka pozostawała w ścisłej zależności z przemianami zachodzącymi na rynku pracy. Ewoluowała ona od zagadnień dotyczących znaczenia turystyki w stymulowaniu popytu na pracę oraz wielkości i struktury zapotrzebowania na specjalistów w tej branży do badań skoncentrowanych na roli pracownika w efektywnym funkcjonowaniu przedsiębiorstw turystycznych. Zmiany w nurtach badawczych skutkowały zastępowaniem dominującego na początku XXI wieku paradygmatu pozytywistycznego oraz ilościowych, strukturalno-funkcjonalnych i ekonomiczno-przestrzennych ujęć analizowanych zagadnień na paradygmat interpertatywny i ujęcia humanistyczne, behawioralne, socjologiczne oraz interdyscyplinarne