IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v75y2020ics0272775719302675.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What do student jobs on graduate CVs signal to employers?

Author

Listed:
  • Van Belle, Eva
  • Caers, Ralf
  • Cuypers, Laure
  • De Couck, Marijke
  • Neyt, Brecht
  • Van Borm, Hannah
  • Baert, Stijn

Abstract

Due to the prevalence and important consequences of student work, the topic has seen an increased interest in the literature. However, to date the focus has been solely on measuring the effect of student employment on later labour market outcomes, relying on signalling theory to explain the observed effects. In the current study, we go beyond measuring the effect of student work and we examine for the first time what exactly is being signalled by student employment. We do this by means of a vignette experiment in which we ask 242 employers to evaluate a set of five fictitious profiles. Whereas all types of student work signal a better work attitude, a larger social network, a greater sense of responsibility, an increased motivation, and more maturity, only student employment in line with a job candidate's field of study is a signal of increased human capital and increased trainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Van Belle, Eva & Caers, Ralf & Cuypers, Laure & De Couck, Marijke & Neyt, Brecht & Van Borm, Hannah & Baert, Stijn, 2020. "What do student jobs on graduate CVs signal to employers?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:75:y:2020:i:c:s0272775719302675
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.101979
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775719302675
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.101979?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stijn Baert & Dieter Verhaest, 2021. "Work Hard or Play Hard? Degree Class, Student Leadership and Employment Opportunities," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(4), pages 1024-1047, August.
    2. Charlene Kalenkoski & Sabrina Pabilonia, 2009. "Does Working While in High School Reduce U.S. Study Time?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 117-121, August.
    3. Regula Geel & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2012. "Earning While Learning: When and How Student Employment is Beneficial," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 26(3), pages 313-340, September.
    4. Piopiunik, Marc & Schwerdt, Guido & Simon, Lisa & Woessmann, Ludger, 2020. "Skills, signals, and employability: An experimental investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    5. Guillermina Jasso, 2006. "Factorial Survey Methods for Studying Beliefs and Judgments," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 34(3), pages 334-423, February.
    6. V. Joseph Hotz & Lixin Colin Xu & Marta Tienda & Avner Ahituv, 2002. "Are There Returns To The Wages Of Young Men From Working While In School?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 221-236, May.
    7. Alam, Moudud & Carling, Kenneth & Nääs, Ola, 2013. "The effect of summer jobs on post-schooling incomes," Working Paper Series 2013:24, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    8. Brecht Neyt & Eddy Omey & Dieter Verhaest & Stijn Baert, 2019. "Does Student Work Really Affect Educational Outcomes? A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 896-921, July.
    9. Stijn Baert & Olivier Rotsaert & Dieter Verhaest & Eddy Omey, 2016. "Student Employment and Later Labour Market Success: No Evidence for Higher Employment Chances," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 401-425, August.
    10. Baert, Stijn & De Pauw, Ann-Sophie, 2014. "Is ethnic discrimination due to distaste or statistics?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 270-273.
    11. Kalenkoski, Charlene Marie & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "Time to work or time to play: The effect of student employment on homework, sleep, and screen time," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 211-221.
    12. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    13. Light, Audrey, 2001. "In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, January.
    14. Eva Van Belle & Ralf Caers & Marijke De Couck & Valentina Di Stasio & Stijn Baert, 2019. "The Signal of Applying for a Job Under a Vacancy Referral Scheme," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 251-274, April.
    15. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1975. "The Theory of "Screening," Education, and the Distribution of Income," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 65(3), pages 283-300, June.
    16. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5.
    17. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 735-776, October.
    18. Stijn Baert & Ive Marx & Brecht Neyt & Eva Van Belle & Jasmien Van Casteren, 2018. "Student employment and academic performance: an empirical exploration of the primary orientation theory," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(8), pages 547-552, May.
    19. Stijn Baert & Sunčica Vujić, 2018. "Does it pay to care? Volunteering and employment opportunities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 819-836, July.
    20. Andreas Damelang & Martin Abraham & Sabine Ebensperger & Felix Stumpf, 2019. "The Hiring Prospects of Foreign-Educated Immigrants: A Factorial Survey among German Employers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(5), pages 739-758, October.
    21. Baert, Stijn & Neyt, Brecht & Omey, Eddy & Verhaest, Dieter, 2017. "Student Work, Educational Achievement, and Later Employment: A Dynamic Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 11127, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sterkens, Philippe & Baert, Stijn & Rooman, Claudia & Derous, Eva, 2021. "As if it weren’t hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    2. Thomas Bolli & Katherine Caves & Maria Esther Oswald-Egg, 2021. "Valuable Experience: How University Internships Affect Graduates’ Income," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(8), pages 1198-1247, December.
    3. Maria Esther Oswald-Egg & Ursula Renold, 2019. "No Experience, No Employment: The Effect of Vocational Education and Training Work Experience on Labour Market Outcomes after Higher Education," KOF Working papers 19-469, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    4. Neyt, Brecht & Verhaest, Dieter & Baert, Stijn, 2019. "The Impact of Internship Experience During Secondary Education on Schooling and Labour Market Outcomes," GLO Discussion Paper Series 425, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Van Borm, Hannah & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "Diving in the minds of recruiters: What triggers gender stereotypes in hiring?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1083, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Oswald-Egg, Maria Esther & Renold, Ursula, 2021. "No experience, no employment: The effect of vocational education and training work experience on labour market outcomes after higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Van Borm, Hannah & Lippens, Louis & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "An Arab, an Asian, and a Black Guy Walk into a Job Interview: Ethnic Stigma in Hiring after Controlling for Social Class," IZA Discussion Papers 15707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Baert, Stijn & Herregods, Jolien & Sterkens, Philippe, 2024. "What does job applicants’ body art signal to employers?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 742-755.
    9. Luca Fumarco & Alessandro Vandromme & Levi Halewyck & Eline Moens & Stijn Baert, 2021. "Does relative age at the onset of compulsory education affects the speed and quality of one’s transition from school to work?," Working Papers 2112, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    10. Philippe Sterkens & Stijn Baert & Claudia Rooman & Eva Derous, 2020. "As if it weren’t hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout A causal machine learning evaluation of training in Belgium," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 20/1000, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    11. Ilse Tobback & Dieter Verhaest & Stijn Baert, 2024. "Internships, Hiring Outcomes and Underlying Mechanisms: A Stated Preferences Experiment," De Economist, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 25-48, March.
    12. Élisabeth Tovar & Matthieu Bunel, 2021. "Attitudes on past-in-present educational discrimination. Insights from a representative factorial survey," EconomiX Working Papers 2021-28, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. By Stijn Baert & Brecht Neyt & Eddy Omey & Dieter Verhaest, 2022. "Student work during secondary education, educational achievement, and later employment: a dynamic approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1605-1635, September.
    2. Baert, Stijn & Rotsaert, Olivier & Verhaest, Dieter & Omey, Eddy, 2015. "A Signal of Diligence? Student Work Experience and Later Employment Chances," IZA Discussion Papers 9170, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Brecht Neyt & Eddy Omey & Dieter Verhaest & Stijn Baert, 2019. "Does Student Work Really Affect Educational Outcomes? A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 896-921, July.
    4. Baert, Stijn & Neyt, Brecht & Omey, Eddy & Verhaest, Dieter, 2017. "Student Work, Educational Achievement, and Later Employment: A Dynamic Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 11127, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Maria Esther Oswald-Egg & Ursula Renold, 2019. "No Experience, No Employment: The Effect of Vocational Education and Training Work Experience on Labour Market Outcomes after Higher Education," KOF Working papers 19-469, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    6. Oswald-Egg, Maria Esther & Renold, Ursula, 2021. "No experience, no employment: The effect of vocational education and training work experience on labour market outcomes after higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Lesner, Rune Vammen & Damm, Anna Piil & Bertelsen, Preben & Pedersen, Mads Uffe, 2022. "The Effect of School-Year Employment on Cognitive Skills, Risky Behavior, and Educational Achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Charles L. Baum & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "The Changing Benefits of Early Work Experience," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 343-363, October.
    9. Piopiunik, Marc & Schwerdt, Guido & Simon, Lisa & Woessmann, Ludger, 2020. "Skills, signals, and employability: An experimental investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    10. Sènakpon Fidèle A. Dedehouanou & Luca Tiberti & Hilaire G. Houeninvo & Djohodo Inès Monwanou, 2019. "Working while studying: Employment premium or penalty for youth in Benin?," Working Papers PMMA 2019-03, PEP-PMMA.
    11. Baert, By Stijn & Neyt, Brecht & Siedler, Thomas & Tobback, Ilse & Verhaest, Dieter, 2021. "Student internships and employment opportunities after graduation: A field experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Kroupova, Katerina & Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana, 2024. "Student Employment and Education: A Meta-Analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    13. Stijn Baert & Olivier Rotsaert & Dieter Verhaest & Eddy Omey, 2016. "Student Employment and Later Labour Market Success: No Evidence for Higher Employment Chances," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 401-425, August.
    14. Van Borm, Hannah & Burn, Ian & Baert, Stijn, 2021. "What Does a Job Candidate's Age Signal to Employers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Holford, Angus, 2015. "Youth employment and academic performance: production functions and policy effects," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-06, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    16. Sènakpon Fidèle Ange Dedehouanou & Luca Tiberti & Gbodja Hilaire Houeninvo & Djohodo Inès Monwanou, 2022. "Working while studying: Employment premium or penalty for youth?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 415-441, March.
    17. Holford, Angus, 2020. "Youth employment, academic performance and labour market outcomes: Production functions and policy effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    18. Regula Geel & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2010. "Earning While Learning: Labor Market Returns to Student Employment During Tertiary Education," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0049, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    19. Baert, Stijn & Picchio, Matteo, 2021. "A signal of (Train)ability? Grade repetition and hiring chances," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 867-878.
    20. Kalenkoski, Charlene Marie & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "Time to work or time to play: The effect of student employment on homework, sleep, and screen time," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 211-221.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Student employment; Signalling; Hiring chances; Vignette study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:75:y:2020:i:c:s0272775719302675. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.