Horizontal Skills Mismatch in Vocational Education in Turkey: The Reasons for Out-of-Field Employment

Suna, H. Eren; Tanberkan, Hande; Eroğlu, Emine; Özer, Mahmut; Gür, Bekir S.

doi:10.26650/sj.2020.40.2.0101

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, since the problems in the transitions from school to work are considered to be predominantly associated with the quality of VET in Turkey, solutions are also expected from the VET since many years (Özer, 2018, 2019a, 2019bÖzer & Suna, 2019. However, the problems seem to be more related to the dynamics of the labor market rather than the VET itself (Özer, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020dSuna, Tanberkan, Ero¤lu, Özer, & Gür, 2020b). Worse still, as the education is held macroscopically responsible for the difficulties in school-to work transitions, the individuals are held microscopically responsible for their unemployment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Social Networks on the Labor Market Inequalities and School-to-Work Transitions

Özer¹,

Perc²

2021

Yuksekogretim Derg

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Countries invest in education systems in order to increase the quality of their human capital. In this context, it is seen that especially after the expansion of the higher education systems, countries try to increase higher education graduation rates in order to improve the quality of human resources in the labor market. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to facilitate the transitions from school-to-work, and to increase social welfare by meeting the human resources needs of the labor market. The facilitation of school-to-work transitions has a direct impact on youth unemployment. School-to-work transitions are influenced not only by the quality of education from primary to higher education but also by the dynamics of the labor market. Social network analysis can provide important insights into this dynamics, and in doing so reveal that there are indeed many factors that play a key role in determining who gets a job and why, including, first and foremost, social contacts. An analysis of job search channels reveals that partners, friends, and relatives are those social contacts that are most decisive for employment outcomes. Research reveals that employers use social-contact-based reference channels much more frequently than formal channels for recruitment. Thus, employers frequently use such reference channels in recruitment. It has also been shown that the use of social-contact channels reduces employers' costs of finding suitable employees and increases productivity since employees hired through these channels also stay longer in their firms. We here explore the full potential of social network analysis to better our understanding of school-to-work transitions, to reveal in no uncertain terms the importance of social contacts, and to show how these insights can be leveraged to level the labor market for all involved. An important take-home message is that the labor market dynamics is strongly affected by the Matthew effect, such that the inequalities and the gaps between opportunities only grow and widen as the underlying social networks evolve. It is therefore important to mitigate these effects well before school-to-work transitions come into play, namely during the education. In particular, we assert that minimizing the inequalities during education should effectively mitigate the uneven impact of social networks on school-to-work transitions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Social Networks on the Labor Market Inequalities and School-to-Work Transitions

Özer¹,

Perc²

2021

Yuksekogretim Derg

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“…Moreover, the preference of academically high-performing students towards VET has increased remarkably, and students from the top percentiles (top %1) have started to prefer VET programs in the last three years. In order to alleviate the skill mismatches in the labor market, new regulations have been made in order to balance the supply and demand in VET on a rational basis, and to increase the matching of VET high schools and institutions with the sector needs Suna et al, 2020).…”

Section: Vocational Education and Training In Turkeymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Promising Opportunity for the Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: New Targets in Accessing the Labor Market through Vocational Education and Training

Özer¹

2021

Bartın Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi

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In recent years, the wars across the world have dramatically increased the demographic mobility among countries. Particularly, the Syrian civil war led to the displacement of millions of people within Syria and also caused the leave of Syrians from their country. The responsibilities of neighboring countries have increased considerably. Turkey, which has been implementing 'open-door diplomacy' since 2011, is the country hosting the highest number of refugees in the world as of 2021. This study evaluates Syrian refugees' access to vocational education and training (VET) in Turkey. In this context, the importance of policies to increase access to vocational training centers (VTCs), which have a major potential in facilitating their transition to the labor market and supporting their social integration, is highlighted. In addition, new steps taken by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) towards the integration of Syrian migrants are discussed.

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“…This finding is attributed to the tendency of foreign-partnered companies to focus more on on-the-job training of employees. Suna et al (2020) investigated the reasons for horizontal skill mismatch by through interviews and questionnaire with VET graduates and found that the main reasons are graduates' inability to find sufficient open positions in their field, lack of difference in wages, employers' preference for experienced employees and working conditions. These findings indicated that the horizontal skill mismatch in VET in Turkey is largely due to labor market dynamics.…”

Section: Studies On Skill Mismatch In Turkeymentioning

confidence: 99%

How compatible is the Supply of Vocational Education and Training Graduates with Labor Market Demand in Turkey?

Çidem

Yalim

Saka

et al. 2021

Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi

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The transition of a country's graduates with vocational skills into the labor market indicates both the efficiency of vocational education and training (VET) and economic development. Many countries have conducted studies to monitor and match the expectations of the labor market with students’ preferences. Scholars and policymakers in Turkey have long debated the compatibility of the level of VET graduates’ skills and needs of the labor market and called for field studies to form a basis for national policy. The current study examine the relationship between open job positions in diverse professions, as indicated by İŞKUR's 2019 Labor Market Research (IPA), and the vocational fields of VET students at the regional level. The skills required by the open positions and the vocational fields in which these skills were acquired are linked in this study to evaluate their compatibility. The research findings showed remarkable differences between the demands of the labor market and the supply of VET graduates across Turkey. In some vocational fields, the imbalance occurred simultaneously across multiple regions. The results emphasize the importance of improving the balance between supply-and-demand at both the regional and provincial level to increase the compatibility between labor market demands and supply in VET.

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Horizontal Skills Mismatch in Vocational Education in Turkey: The Reasons for Out-of-Field Employment

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Impact of Social Networks on the Labor Market Inequalities and School-to-Work Transitions

Impact of Social Networks on the Labor Market Inequalities and School-to-Work Transitions

A Promising Opportunity for the Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: New Targets in Accessing the Labor Market through Vocational Education and Training

How compatible is the Supply of Vocational Education and Training Graduates with Labor Market Demand in Turkey?

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