an article by Wouter Zwysen and Neli Demireva (University of Essex, UK) published in Social Inclusion Volume 6 Number 3 (2018)
Abstract
This article focuses on the returns to human capital of migrants and minorities in the UK.
The question of whether skills and qualifications are properly utilized is very pertinent given the global competition for skilled migrants and the aim of European and British markets to attract such workers. Using data from Understanding Society (2009 to 2017) we find that there is a clear evidence of ethnic hierarchies with black Caribbean and black African minorities generally most disadvantaged, while other white UK-born have the best outcomes compared to the white British. Western migrants generally do very well, but new EU migrants have high levels of employment, and low returns to their qualifications and relatively high levels of over-qualification.
Foreign qualifications are generally discounted, and more so for migrants with less certain legal status or low language skills. Public sector employment plays an important role and is associated with the higher economic placement of migrants and minorities in the UK.
There are some worrying trends however. Highly skilled migrants, particularly black migrants as well as those from Eastern Europe, come in with high qualifications, but their jobs do not match their skill levels.
Full text (PDF 28pp)
Showing posts with label over-qualification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label over-qualification. Show all posts
Monday, 10 September 2018
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Field-of-study mismatch and overqualification: labour market correlates and their wage penalty
an article by Guillermo Montt (International Labour Office, Genève, Switzerland)
IZA Journal of Labor Economics Volume 6 Article 2 (2017)
Abstract
Field-of-study mismatch occurs when a worker, trained in a particular field, works in another field. This study draws on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) to explore how skill supply and labour market demand dynamics influence mismatch. It updates cross-national estimates on mismatch and estimates the mismatch wage penalty.
Findings suggest that around 40% of workers are mismatched by field at their qualification level, 11% overqualified in their field and 13% overqualified and working outside their field. The saturation of the field in the labour market and the transferability of the fields’ skills predict the incidence of field-of-study mismatch and over-qualification.
Workers who are mismatched by field only suffer a wage penalty if they are overqualified.
JEL Classification: J24, J31
Full text (PDF)
Abstract
Field-of-study mismatch occurs when a worker, trained in a particular field, works in another field. This study draws on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) to explore how skill supply and labour market demand dynamics influence mismatch. It updates cross-national estimates on mismatch and estimates the mismatch wage penalty.
Findings suggest that around 40% of workers are mismatched by field at their qualification level, 11% overqualified in their field and 13% overqualified and working outside their field. The saturation of the field in the labour market and the transferability of the fields’ skills predict the incidence of field-of-study mismatch and over-qualification.
Workers who are mismatched by field only suffer a wage penalty if they are overqualified.
JEL Classification: J24, J31
Full text (PDF)
Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Inequality – ‘wicked problems’, labour market outcomes and the search for silver bullets
an article by Ewart Keep and Ken Mayhew (University of Oxford, UK) published in Oxford Review of Education Volume 40 Number 6 (November 2014)
Abstract
In recent years concerns about inequality have been growing in prominence within UK policy debates. The many causes of inequality of earnings and income are complex in their interactions and their tendency to reinforce one another. This makes inequality an intractable or ‘wicked’ policy problem, particularly within a contemporary context in which many of the established policy responses from previous eras are at best discussed in muted terms and more normally deemed to be unavailable.
This reflects the eclipse of ‘equality of outcome’ models and the concomitant rise of ‘equality of opportunity’ as the new policy mantra from Thatcher onwards. As traditional policy responses have withered, the role of education and training as a ‘silver bullet’ that can address a host of economic and social challenges has come to the fore. This article outlines policy makers’ beliefs that improving the educational attainment of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds can enable them to compete more effectively for elite jobs, and also that increasing the supply of educated employees can transform the level of demand for skills from employers.
These beliefs are then critiqued, with reference to occupational congestion, over-qualification and the evidence that skills supply does not always create its own demand.
Yes, I know that this is old but still worth reading. Hazel
Abstract
In recent years concerns about inequality have been growing in prominence within UK policy debates. The many causes of inequality of earnings and income are complex in their interactions and their tendency to reinforce one another. This makes inequality an intractable or ‘wicked’ policy problem, particularly within a contemporary context in which many of the established policy responses from previous eras are at best discussed in muted terms and more normally deemed to be unavailable.
This reflects the eclipse of ‘equality of outcome’ models and the concomitant rise of ‘equality of opportunity’ as the new policy mantra from Thatcher onwards. As traditional policy responses have withered, the role of education and training as a ‘silver bullet’ that can address a host of economic and social challenges has come to the fore. This article outlines policy makers’ beliefs that improving the educational attainment of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds can enable them to compete more effectively for elite jobs, and also that increasing the supply of educated employees can transform the level of demand for skills from employers.
These beliefs are then critiqued, with reference to occupational congestion, over-qualification and the evidence that skills supply does not always create its own demand.
Yes, I know that this is old but still worth reading. Hazel
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Rethinking underemployment and overqualification in organizations: The not so ugly truth
an article by Katina W. Thompson, Pamela L. Perrewé and Gerald R. Ferris (Florida State University, Tallahassee), Thomas H. Shea (Right Management, Fort Lauderdale) and David M. Sikora (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) published in Business Horizons
Volume 56 Issue 1 (January–February 2013)
Abstract
What comes to mind when you hear the term underemployment?
Does a slight, disapproving frown purse your lips?
Does pity flood your heart?
Or do forgotten mental notations to study the topic permeate your brain?
Although we are intimately familiar with unemployment and its effects, we are much less aware of underemployment and its impact on people and organisations.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in January 2012, underemployment was estimated to affect more than 10 million people in the American civilian labour force. Its magnitude suggests that underemployment is a significant issue for all involved.
By combining practical experiences from an outplacement firm (Right Management, headed by Thomas H Shea as above) and what we have learned from academic research, we herein describe five types of underemployment, discuss widely held assumptions about the issue, and offer suggestions regarding ways that organisations might harness the power of this economy-wide phenomenon.
Hazel’s comment:
It is, of course, not only in the USA that underemployment is a problem for many people. There are significant challenges faced by many people in the UK as well.
Related posts:
Involuntary part-time workers in Britain
Chasing graduate jobs?
Abstract
What comes to mind when you hear the term underemployment?
Does a slight, disapproving frown purse your lips?
Does pity flood your heart?
Or do forgotten mental notations to study the topic permeate your brain?
Although we are intimately familiar with unemployment and its effects, we are much less aware of underemployment and its impact on people and organisations.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in January 2012, underemployment was estimated to affect more than 10 million people in the American civilian labour force. Its magnitude suggests that underemployment is a significant issue for all involved.
By combining practical experiences from an outplacement firm (Right Management, headed by Thomas H Shea as above) and what we have learned from academic research, we herein describe five types of underemployment, discuss widely held assumptions about the issue, and offer suggestions regarding ways that organisations might harness the power of this economy-wide phenomenon.
Hazel’s comment:
It is, of course, not only in the USA that underemployment is a problem for many people. There are significant challenges faced by many people in the UK as well.
Related posts:
Involuntary part-time workers in Britain
Chasing graduate jobs?
Thursday, 3 January 2013
Ethnic penalties in graduate level over-education, unemployment and wages: evidence from Britain
an article by Anthony Rafferty (University of Manchester, UK) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 6 (December 2012)
Abstract
Although access to higher education has helped many minority ethnic men and women improve their labour market position compared to prior generations or the less qualified, it remains unclear to what extent higher level qualifications facilitate an equalisation of labour market outcomes with comparably educated white UK born men and women.
This article critically examines ethnic differences in graduate level over-education, unemployment and wages as potential markers of discrimination or broader ‘ethnic penalties’, defined as the differences in labour market outcomes persisting after accounting for observable human capital and demographic characteristics.
To estimate ethnic penalties a novel approach using covariate matching is applied. The findings reveal that despite their levels of educational attainment penalties persist among several minority ethnic groups. The implications of pre-labour market social disadvantages for explaining patterns of over-education are highlighted.
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