IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/umarot/2024004.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Behavioural Effects of Providing Labour Market Information to Students Evidence from an Eye-tracking Pilot Study

Author

Listed:
  • Fouarge, Didier

    (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, ROA / Labour market and training)

  • Steens, Sanne

    (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Labour market and training)

  • Wetzels, Martin

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate students’ responses to labour market information by using eye-tracking technology to measure the visual attention students pay to labour market indicators of study programmes they are interested in. We relate these measures of visual attention to their recall of information and the likelihood that they re-rank their preferred study choice. In a sample of 63 students in the pre-academic track of a Dutch secondary school, we find that the dwell time (i.e., the time students spend looking at the labour market information we provide) is positively correlated with finding future changes of work and earnings prospects important. Students who report they find our information useful correct their expectations more often. However, we do not find a correlation between dwell time and informational recall on measures of unemployment, working hours and wages in their preferred study programme. The evaluation of the information by students suggests a generally positive response to the information, with a high level of interest and perceived ease of understanding. Despite that, only a small percentage of students plan to use the information in their programme choice, indicating a potential gap between interest and practical application for some students.

Suggested Citation

  • Fouarge, Didier & Steens, Sanne & Wetzels, Martin, 2024. "Behavioural Effects of Providing Labour Market Information to Students Evidence from an Eye-tracking Pilot Study," ROA Technical Report 004, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umarot:2024004
    DOI: 10.26481/umarot.2024004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ws/files/185315513/ROA_TR_2024_4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.26481/umarot.2024004?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony Mann & Vanessa Denis & Chris Percy, 2020. "Career ready?: How schools can better prepare young people for working life in the era of COVID-19," OECD Education Working Papers 241, OECD Publishing.
    2. Hastings, Justine S. & Neilson, Christopher A. & Ramirez, Anely & Zimmerman, Seth D., 2016. "(Un)informed college and major choice: Evidence from linked survey and administrative data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 136-151.
    3. Ashok Bardhan & Daniel L. Hicks & Dwight Jaffee, 2013. "How responsive is higher education? The linkages between higher education and the labour market," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1239-1256, April.
    4. Altonji, J.G. & Arcidiacono, P. & Maurel, A., 2016. "The Analysis of Field Choice in College and Graduate School," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Adam Altmejd & Andrés Barrios-Fernández & Marin Drlje & Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Dejan Kovac & Christine Mulhern & Christopher Neilson & Jonathan Smith, 2021. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers on College and Major Choice in Four Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1831-1886.
    2. Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Can perceived returns explain enrollment gaps in postgraduate education?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Peter Arcidiacono & Esteban Aucejo & Arnaud Maurel & Tyler Ransom, 2025. "College Attrition and the Dynamics of Information Revelation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 133(1), pages 53-110.
    4. Yanqing Ding & Wei Li & Xin Li & Yinduo Wu & Jin Yang & Xiaoyang Ye, 2021. "Heterogeneous Major Preferences for Extrinsic Incentives: The Effects of Wage Information on the Gender Gap in STEM Major Choice," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(8), pages 1113-1145, December.
    5. Ma, Liping & Li, Xin & Zhu, Qiong & Ye, Xiaoyang, 2023. "College-major choice to college-then-major choice: Experimental evidence from Chinese college admissions reforms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. Justine Hastings & Christopher A. Neilson & Seth D. Zimmerman, 2015. "The Effects of Earnings Disclosure on College Enrollment Decisions," Working Papers 2015-1, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    7. Dinarte-Diaz, Lelys & Ferreyra, Maria Marta & Melguizo, Tatiana & Sanchez-Diaz, Angelica, 2024. "The value added of short-cycle higher education programs to student outcomes: Evidence from Colombia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Li, Hongyan & Xia, Xing, 2024. "Grades as signals of comparative advantage: How letter grades affect major choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    9. Joseph Han, 2022. "College Majors in Limited Supply: The Case of Private Universities in Korea," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 38, pages 381-414.
    10. Altmejd, Adam, 2023. "Inheritance of fields of study," Working Paper Series 2023:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    11. Ismaël Mourifié & Marc Henry & Romuald Méango, 2020. "Sharp Bounds and Testability of a Roy Model of STEM Major Choices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(8), pages 3220-3283.
    12. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2021. "High School Rank in Math and English and the Gender Gap in STEM," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Tarun Jain & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay & Nishith Prakash & Raghav Rakesh, 2022. "Science education and labor market outcomes in a developing economy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 741-763, April.
    14. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Finance and the reallocation of scientific, engineering and mathematical talent," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    15. Kunwon Ahn & John V. Winters, 2023. "Does education enhance entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 717-743, August.
    16. Hestermann, Nina & Pistolesi, Nicolas, 2016. "Does the Provision of Information on their Skills Affect Students' Enrollment Choices?," TSE Working Papers 16-650, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    17. Christopher Neilson & Adam Altmejd & Andres Barrios-Fernandez & Marin Drlje & Dejan Kovac, 2019. "Siblings' Effects on College and Major Choices: Evidence from Chile, Croatia and Sweden," Working Papers 633, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    18. Yuxi Yao, 2023. "Accounting for the decline in homeownership among the young," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 79-102, January.
    19. Daniel Kuehn & Hal Salzman, 2018. "The Engineering Labor Market: An Overview of Recent Trends," NBER Chapters, in: US Engineering in a Global Economy, pages 11-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Joseph G. Altonji & Ling Zhong, 2021. "The Labor Market Returns to Advanced Degrees," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 303-360.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:unm:umarot:2024004. 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: Andrea Willems or Angie Figueroa Alarcon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/romaanl.html .

    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.