The Employment of Young Graduates in the Period 2000-2010: A Comparison between Six European Countries

Abstract

The paper aims to assess the relative importance of participation and unemployment and the interaction between them in affecting the evolution of employment rates of young graduates in selected European countries. The Taylor formula is used to read the behaviour of employment rates in terms of movements in activity and unemployment rates. Using this analytical procedure, the comparison between the selected countries underscores two aspects in particular: the progressive isolation of Italy, due to the poor results of the reform of the higher education system at the end of the 1990s, and the widespread progress within the female segments. On a more general plane, the heterogeneity of European labour markets for young graduates assumes new characteristics in the decade but—it is argued—it remains significant. The relative importance of participation and unemployment, the impact of the reforms of the higher education system, the reaction to the crisis of the late 2000s, and the gender aspects sharply differentiate the evolution of young graduate employment in the individual countries

Measurement and Sustainability of the Qualifications Frameworks in the European Higher Education Area through an Employment Survey on Access to the Labour Market

“…Thus, we find some authors who underscore the unforeseeable consequences of a constant increase in the percentage of the population with higher education [50]. Meanwhile, others highlight the importance of structural factors, such as heterogeneity within the labor markets in each country [51]⎯socioeconomic imbalances between the north and south [14], or the types of educational programs and fields of study, as well as personal factors; gender and economic standing of a graduate's family [52]; level of parental education, competencies at the time of graduation, employment conditions⎯economic sector, size of the organization, and the experience after graduation [53]. Other opinions in this regard, which serve to balance the debate, point out that going through university tends to iron out class differences soon after graduation, thus arguing that any initial social differences do not represent a discriminating factor in terms of employability [54].…”

Human Capital and English Language Proficiency in the Chinese Context

“…Experts and scholars have long carried out studies regarding factors influencing college graduate employment (Chen & Liu, 2015;Gonzalez, 2000;Huang, 2008). Some scholars have analyzed the situation of young college graduates in the labor market by examining the impact of gender (Potestio, 2011;Rotkowski, 2003). Chinese researchers have also considered contradictions between the training of higher education and the needs of economic and social development, job market and employer selection, student interests, and social structure (Chen, 2005;Li, 2017).…”