The Bologna process and graduate career tracking system Inequalities in transition from higher education to labour market Péter Róbert Professor of Sociology, Széchenyi University, Győr Senior researcher, Institute of Political Science (HAS) and TARKI, Budapest Presentation on October 20, 2011 at Educatio

Source of inequalities Type of education (institutional level) - short program vs. long program - type of curriculum and examination (in terms of skill formation) - field of study Family background (individual level) - cultural climate in the family - economic / financial conditions in the family (based on respondent’s responses)

Indicators for LM entry success Labour market entry is regarded successful if the process is quick, if the graduate finds a job within a short time there is a good match between the job and the qualifications - vertical match: the job requires the given level of education (e.g. a tertiary degree) - horizontal match: the job fits to the field of study

The advantage of being graduated The best chances to find a job appear if labour market entrants have tertiary education, particularly if they completed long programs (level of upper tertiary) Those with (upper) tertiary level of education have better chances to find a job with higher occupational status

Effects of education on hazard rates of the first job entry by country Source: Comparative analysis of education and labour market entry in Central and Eastern Europe, MZES Project, Irena Kogan et. al.

Effect of education on the first job status by country Source: Comparative analysis of education and labour market entry in Central and Eastern Europe, MZES Project, Irena Kogan et. al.

The curriculum is dominated by lectures vs. group assignments

The curriculum is dominated by theory vs. practice

The exams are dominated by tests vs. essays

Learning effects on transition to LM Practical oriented curriculum results in smoother LM entry and better match between qualification and job Study related work during the years spent in higher education leads to quicker LM entry and better match

The impact of work during studies Time (in months) searching for job Study related Non- study related All countries--++ Czech Republic--++ Hungary-- Poland-- Slovenia--++ Estonia-- Lithuania-- First job is a professional one Study related Non- study related All countries++-- Czech Republic++-- Hungary Poland++ Slovenia++ Estonia- Lithuania

Country patterns of transition from university to work Methodology: Cluster analysis An explorative technique to display country patterns based on typical combination of characteristics Input indicators: right side panel Analysis is performed on country level data (N = 18) Selected cluster solution: countries are grouped and characterized by the indicators that served as input variables for the method Indicators of LM entry -Job search: spent more than 6 months with finding a first job -Qualification and job mismatch (objective): First job title is ISCO 3-9 with diploma -Qualification and job mismatch (subjective): Feels that first job does not require a diploma -Qualification and job mismatch (subjective): Feels that first job fits to field of study

Country characteristics for LM entry

Time needed to LM entry Source: Hungarian graduate (2007) tracer study

LM entry by field of study In Hungary, those graduated in medicine find a job during the shortest time They are followed by graduates from informatics, economics and engineering Longer time needed to find a job for the graduates from life science, social science and teaching BUT: institutional and individual factors are not independent: field of study and social origin are related

Field of study by family background

LM entry, field of study, social origin Graduates from most fields of study find a job faster if they come from a parental family with high level of education, while low educated parents increase the time for job search Graduates from medicine or law benefit particularly from the favourable social origin, while graduates from life sciences need especially more time to find a job if they come from low educated family But graduates in social sciences enter the labour market slower if they have a good family background with high level of parental education  Favourable family background can support the graduate by helping to find a job faster or by allowing her/him to search for a good job longer time

The role of family background in LM entry by field of study

Thank you for your attention Peter Robert Szechenyi University, Gyor TARKI Social Research Institute, Budapest