Degree power: educational credentialism within three skilled occupations

Tholen, Gerbrand

doi:10.1080/01425692.2019.1690427

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…This is a highly formal and institutionalized way of securing trust in the information given by occupational certificates. If employers do not trust or have doubts about the information given by certificates, candidates have lower labor-market success (Tholen 2019).…”

Section: Occupations Institutions and Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupations and Inequality: Theoretical Perspectives and Mechanisms

Haupt

Ebner

2020

Köln Z Soziol

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People’s occupations are strongly related to multiple dimensions of inequality, such as inequalities in wages, health, autonomy, or risk of temporary employment. The theories and mechanisms linking occupations to these inequalities are subject to debate. We review the recent evidence on the relationship between occupations and inequality and discuss the following four overarching theoretical perspectives: occupations and skills, occupations and tasks, occupations and institutions, and occupations and culture. We show that each perspective has strong implications for how scholars conceptualize occupations and which occupational characteristics are seen as relevant when explaining inequalities. Building on this, we review and critically examine the relevant theories related to and the mechanisms of the relationship between occupation and wage inequality, as an example. We conclude that there is sound empirical knowledge available on the relationships between occupations and inequality; however, some of the mechanisms are still unclear.

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Section: Occupations Institutions and Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupations and Inequality: Theoretical Perspectives and Mechanisms

Haupt

Ebner

2020

Köln Z Soziol

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“…The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0143-7720.htm increased uptake of HE and lagging demand for graduate labour have broadly contributed to structural imbalances in the graduate labour market (Green and Henseke, 2021) and consequential rises in underemployment in many developed economies (Verhaest and van der Velden, 2013). This has led to mounting concerns for unequal graduate labour market rewards and whether university degree credentials still lead to graduate-level employment (see Tholen, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition to work, mismatch and underemployment among graduates: an Australian longitudinal study

Jackson

2021

IJM

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PurposeThere are ongoing concerns regarding university degree credentials leading to graduate-level employment. Tracking graduate underemployment is complicated by inconsistent measures and tendencies to report on outcomes soon after graduation. Our study explored transition into graduate-level work beyond the short-term, examining how determining factors change over time.Design/methodology/approachWe considered time-based underemployment (graduates are working less hours than desired) and overqualification (skills in employment not matching education level/type) perspectives. We used a national data set for 41,671 graduates of Australian universities in 2016 and 2017, surveyed at four months and three years' post-graduation, to explore determining factors in the short and medium-term. Descriptive statistical techniques and binary logistic regression were used to address our research aims.FindingsGraduates' medium-term employment states were generally positive with reduced unemployment and increased full-time job attainment. Importantly, most graduates that were initially underemployed transited to full-time work at three years post-graduation. However, around one-fifth of graduates were overqualified in the medium-term. While there was some evidence of the initially qualified transitioning to matched employment, supporting career mobility theory, over one-third remaining overqualified. Skills, personal characteristics and degree-related factors each influenced initial overqualification, while discipline was more important in the medium-term.Originality/valueOur study explores both time-based underemployment and overqualification, and over time, builds on earlier work. Given the longer-term, negative effects of mismatch on graduates' career and wellbeing, findings highlight the need for career learning strategies to manage underemployment and consideration of future labour market policy for tertiary graduates.

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“…22 Chen 2019. 23 Breen, Hannan and O'Leary 1995Tholen 2020. 24 Rivera 2020 for employers to allocate job positions.…”

Section: Theories Of Educational Credentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational Success in Transitional China: The Gaokao and Learning Capital in Elite Professional Service Firms

Ren¹

2022

The China Quarterly

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Despite fruitful findings on the reasons underlying the desire for educational success and scarce credentials among students and families, there is little research on the meaning of educational success in the marketplace. As higher education in China has expanded to aid better-quality growth and the transition to a knowledge-based economy, educational success has become increasingly critical in the allocation of socioeconomic rewards. As such, insights into how educational success and concomitant credentials are valorized are empirically and theoretically significant. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 73 recruiters for elite professional service firms, this study analyses the meanings underlying the process of valorizing educational success and elite credentials. It shows that success in the gaokao, or entry to higher education, was qualitatively salient in excluding candidates, while information about subject domains and marks/class rank carried relatively less weight. Recruiters based the value of educational success on the notion of “learning ability,” which reflected their shared understandings about Chinese educational selection/institutions and wider conditions of elite professional firms. On this basis, this paper argues for the development of learning capital as a new theoretical lens for approaching educational success and credentials in transitional China.

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Degree power: educational credentialism within three skilled occupations

Cited by 19 publications

References 33 publications

Occupations and Inequality: Theoretical Perspectives and Mechanisms

Occupations and Inequality: Theoretical Perspectives and Mechanisms

Transition to work, mismatch and underemployment among graduates: an Australian longitudinal study

Educational Success in Transitional China: The Gaokao and Learning Capital in Elite Professional Service Firms

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