School-To-Work Transition To Employed And Unemployed Students Of The Second Year Of Master Of Science Degree In The Department Of Labor And Social Policies

Switching from education to employment for youth is often associated with a long and difficult phase of transition. This study addresses precisely the problems of school-to-work transition between students of the Master of Science in the Department of Labor and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tirana. It aims to describe the transition situation in which are currently employed and unemployed students of this department and to identify the differences and similarities in the characteristics of this transition between the two groups. This study is a quantitative study and the research strategy used is a descriptive and comparative study. The entire scope of the study is covered by a comparative dimension that analyzes two groups: employed and unemployed students of this Department. The study shows that most of the students, even those who are employed, are still in a situation of transition. Only 14.3% of students had transited to a stable job, 73.5% were in transition and 12.2% had not started their transition. Over 72% of students have worked or continue to work while studying. Most of them worked / still work in a private company. The main motive that drives students to work during their studies is to provide income. As the ideal job, most of them (employed and unemployed) consider opening a personal business. Regarding long-term unemployment, only 17.4% of students are looking for a job for more than a year. The minimum wage under which they would refuse a job is on average 26016.39 lekë. It is interesting that employed students have lower claims on the minimum wage than the unemployed. Among the employed students, most of them work in jobs that fit their level of education. They generally work on a temporary employment contract, have an average working hour per week of 34.95 hours and the average income earned is 37437.5 lek. They are mostly satisfied with their current job but still hope to change it in the future.