University and Labor Market Outcomes: What Matters?
Labor market performance of graduates is an important aspect in the evaluation of institutions for higher education. In this report we investigate the determinants of the labor market performances for tertiary students in Italy. More specifically, the impact of the university on wage level and employment probability is studied, after controlling for relevant characteristics of student inflow and aspects of the labor market context. It is shown that it is crucial to take into account these aspects to make an accurate evaluation of the university impact on the labor market performance of their graduates. The main determinant of the labor market position of the university graduate turn out to be characteristics that are related to the individual student, both for the employment status as the wage level. In general the university attended might have some impact but it is fairly limited. Raw ranking of educational institutions (the so-called league tables) is shown to be a dangerous exercise. Uncontextualized, unadjusted rankings disregard crucial factors that institutions cannot be held accountable for. This is a well-established fact within school-effectiveness research, but this kind of league tables are still widely spread when it concerns the performance of higher education institutions.
VAN NIJLEN Daniel;
D'HOMBRES Beatrice;
2008-09-11
OPOCE
JRC40877
978-92-79-08177-4,
1018-5593,
EUR 23081 EN,
OP LB-NA-23081-EN-C,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC40877,
10.2788/61327,
Additional supporting files
| File name | Description | File type | |
|---|
