Overeducation in the early career of secondary education graduates : an analysis using sequence techniques

Based on monthly observations of their labour market status in the first seven years after leaving education, this paper uses optimal matching sequence analysis to construct a typology of entry-patterns of Flemish secondary education graduates. Our main finding is that for a significant number of young people overeducation constitutes a persistent problem, affecting about half of the sample for nearly the full observation period. Investigating the risk factors involved, we find that some factors, such as having lower human capital endowments or facing job search constraints, enhance the risk of following disadvantageous trajectories. Having a lower reservation wage seems to make being persistently overeducated more likely. Yet, starting as ‘overeducated’ does not necessarily lead to being stuck in that state for the rest of the career. About 7% of our sample succeeds in entering an adequate position even after being overeducated for a relatively long period

The Early Labour Market Effects of Generally and Vocationally Oriented Higher Education: Is There a Trade-off?

This study investigates whether the choice for a vocationally versus a generally oriented higher education program entails a trade-off between higher employment chances and better matches at the start of the career (when opting for a vocational orientation) and a lower risk of bad match persistence later on (when opting for a general orientation). We rely on detailed early career spell data of Flemish graduates and assess the vocational orientation of their program by means of the presence of curriculum-based work placement. We model the program choice (vocationally versus generally oriented), the transition to a good match and the preceding transition to a bad match simultaneously. To account for non-random selection into vocational programs and into bad matches, the Timing of Events method is combined with an exclusion restriction. After accounting for unobserved heterogeneity, we do not find any evidence for a trade-off early in the career. This result contributes to the debate about the efficiency of vocationalising tertiary education programs through the implementation of work placement

Unemployment or Overeducation: Which is a Worse Signal to Employers?

This study aims at estimating the stigma effect of unemployment and overeducation within one framework. To this end, we conduct a field experiment in the Belgian labour market. We send out trios of fictitious male job applications to real vacancies. These applications differ only by the labour market history of the candidates. By monitoring the subsequent reactions from the employer side, we find evidence for a larger stigma effect of unemployment than overeducation. The stigma effect of overeducation is found to occur for permanent contract jobs but not temporary ones

Mister Sandman, bring me good marks!: on the relationship between sleep quality and academic achievement

This study assesses the relationship between sleep quality and academic achievement. We survey college students about their sleep quality by means of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before the start of their first exam period at university. PSQI scores are matched with course marks in this first exam period. Instrumenting PSQI scores by sleep quality during secondary education, we find that increasing total sleep quality with one standard deviation leads to 4.85 percentage point higher course marks

Discriminating between alternative measures of overeducation

Five overeducation measures are evaluated empirically on the basis of encompassing tests. The measures are based on job analysis (JA), worker-assessment of the required level to do the job (WAd), worker-assessment of the required level to get the job (WAg), the mean educational level of realized matches (RMmn), and the modal level of realized matches (RMml). Over- and undereducation are linked to wages, job satisfaction, mobility and training participation. For none of the outcome variables, the JA model is encompassed by another model. Given the risk on systematic errors, this is a sufficient condition to prefer a carefully conducted JA to any other measure. The most reliable solution is to use the JA measure as an instrument for the WAd measure

Overeducation and job satisfaction: the role of job demands and control

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate how job demands and control contribute to the relationship between overeducation and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis is based on data for Belgian young workers up to the age of 26. The authors execute regression analyses, with autonomy, quantitative demands and job satisfaction as dependent variables. The authors account for unobserved individual heterogeneity by means of panel-data techniques. Findings - The results reveal a significant role of demands and control for the relationship between overeducation and job satisfaction. At career start, overeducated workers have less control than adequately educated individuals with similar skills levels, but more control than adequately educated employees doing similar work. Moreover, their control increases faster over the career than that of adequately educated workers with a similar educational background. Finally, demands have less adverse effects on satisfaction for high-skilled workers, irrespective of their match, while control moderates the negative satisfaction effect of overeducation. Research limitations/implications - Future research should look beyond the early career and focus on other potential compensation mechanisms for overeducation. Also the role of underlying mechanisms, such as job crafting, deserves more attention. Practical implications - The results suggest that providing more autonomy is an effective strategy to avoid job dissatisfaction among overeducated workers. Originality/value - The study connects two areas of research, namely, that on overeducation and its consequences and that on the role of job demands and control for workers' well-being. The results contribute to a better understanding why overeducation persists. Moreover, they are consistent with the hypothesis that employers hire overeducated workers because they require less monitoring and are more able to cope with demands, although more direct evidence on this is needed

A Signal of Diligence? Student Work Experience and Later Employment Chances

We investigate the impact of student work experience on later hiring chances. To completely rule out potential endogeneity, we present a field experiment in which various forms of student work experience are randomly disclosed by more than 1000 fictitious graduates applying for jobs in Belgium. Theoretical mechanisms are investigated by estimating heterogeneous treatment effects by the relevance and timing of revealed student work experience. We find that neither form of student work experience enhances initial recruitment decisions. For a number of candidate subgroups (by education level and occupation type), even an adverse effect is found