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Is Mass Higher Education Working? Evidence from the Labour Market Experiences of Recent Graduates

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Elias

    (Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Peter.Elias@warwick.ac.uk)

  • Kate Purcell

    (Employment Studies Research Unit, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Kate.Purcell@uwe.ac.uk)

Abstract

This paper uses a variety of recent sources of information to explore the labour market experiences of those who gained a degree in the 1980s and 1990s. Specifically, we address the issue of ‘overeducation’ - the view that the expansion of higher education in the 1990s created a situation in which increasing numbers of graduates were unable to access employment that required and valued graduate skills and knowledge. Two complementary approaches to this issue are adopted. We review available evidence on the graduate earnings premium and change in the UK occupational structure, and we conduct a detailed examination of the earnings and characteristics of jobs done by a large sample of 1995 graduates seven years after graduation. We conclude that, while there may have been a decline from the high premium enjoyed by older graduates, for those who graduated in 1995 the average premium was holding up well, despite the expansion. Although we found differences between established graduate occupations and the newer areas of graduate employment, our evidence suggests that the development of new technical and managerial specialisms and occupational restructuring within organisations has been commensurate with the availability of an increased supply of highly qualified people.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Elias & Kate Purcell, 2004. "Is Mass Higher Education Working? Evidence from the Labour Market Experiences of Recent Graduates," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 190(1), pages 60-74, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:niesru:v:190:y:2004:i:1:p:60-74
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Almeida, Andre & Figueiredo, Hugo & Cerejeira, João & Portela, Miguel & Sá, Carla & Teixeira, Pedro N., 2017. "Returns to Postgraduate Education in Portugal: Holding on to a Higher Ground?," IZA Discussion Papers 10676, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Jürgen Janger & Andreas Reinstaller, 2012. "Bildung 2025 – Die Rolle von Bildung in der österreichischen Wirtschaft," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 45200, February.
    3. Sara Flisi & Valentina Goglio & Elena Claudia Meroni & Margarida Rodrigues & Esperanza Vera-Toscano, 2017. "Measuring Occupational Mismatch: Overeducation and Overskill in Europe—Evidence from PIAAC," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 1211-1249, April.
    4. Nigel O’Leary & Peter Sloane, 2016. "Too many graduates? An application of the Gottschalk–Hansen model to young British graduates between 2001–2010," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(4), pages 945-967.
    5. Rudakov, Victor & Figueiredo, Hugo & Teixeira, Pedro N. & Roshchin, Sergey, 2019. "The Impact of Horizontal Job-Education Mismatches on the Earnings of Recent University Graduates in Russia," IZA Discussion Papers 12407, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Mihalis Giannakis & Nicola Bullivant, 2016. "The massification of higher education in the UK: Aspects of service quality," Post-Print hal-01342553, HAL.
    7. Lindley, Joanne & McIntosh, Steven, 2015. "Growth in within graduate wage inequality: The role of subjects, cognitive skill dispersion and occupational concentration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 101-111.
    8. Golo Henseke, 2019. "Against the Grain? Assessing Graduate Labour Market Trends in Germany Through a Task-Based Indicator of Graduate Jobs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 809-840, January.

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