The causes and consequences of field-of-study mismatch

Abstract

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Making better use of skills and migration in Poland

“…Furthermore, field-of-study mismatch is above the OECD average in Poland, implying economy-wide costs in terms of productivity losses, a higher incidence of unemployment and sunk costs for training in a field not corresponding to the worker's ultimate job (Montt, 2015). At the same time, many employers report difficulties in finding suitable candidates, such as professionals in science and engineering, education and healthcare, as well as qualified workers in industry and construction (Kocór et al, 2015).…”

Information-processing skills used at work, by firm size

“…The Survey of Adult Skills provides a unique source of information on the match between workers and the skills demands of their jobs, in terms of qualifications, field of study, and proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem solving. Mismatches between adults' skills and what is required or expected of them at work are found to be pervasive, but generate negative outcomes for workers when related to overqualification (Montt, 2015) or negative outcomes for economies when related to over-or underskilling (Adalet McGowan and Andrews, 2015). On average, about 22% of workers reported that they are overqualified (i.e.…”

“…At the firm level, there may be incentives to hire overqualified workers: they are more productive, as indicated by their wages. But, on aggregate, these workers and the economy would be better off if they were working at their adequate qualifications level (Montt, 2015). The effect of overskilling on wages is small and often not statistically significant.…”

“…Imbalances (e.g. shortages or oversupply of individuals with particular qualifications or skills) have an effect on the prevalence and type of mismatches observed at the individual level (Montt, 2015). But that relationship is not automatic.…”

“…Mismatch by field of study A worker is classified as mismatched by field of study if the area of study of his or her highest qualification is not related to the field that is most relevant to the worker's job following the coding used by Wolbers (2003), Quintini (2011) and, for ISCO 08 occupations, Montt (2015).…”