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Degree classification and recent graduates’ ability: Is there any signalling effect?
Abstract
Research across several countries has shown that degree classification (i.e. the final grade awarded to students successfully completing university) is an important determinant of graduates’ first destination outcome. Graduates leaving university with higher degree classifications have better employment opportunities and a higher likelihood of continuing education relative to those with lower degree classifications. This article investigates whether one of the reasons for this result is that employers and higher education institutions use degree classification as a signalling device for the ability that recent graduates may possess. Given the large number of applicants and the amount of time and resources typically required to assess their skills, employers and higher education institutions may decide to rely on this measure when forming beliefs about recent graduates’ abilities. Using data on two cohorts of recent graduates from a UK university, results suggest that an Upper Second degree classification may have a signalling role.
... Degree classifications (Giorgio 2017) and Grade Point Averages (GPAs) play an important role in students' futures, either in their further studies or career prospects, the criteria to achieve distinction need be adjusted to cope with the changes in assessment as caused by the pandemic. Several universities have made the decision to use students' performance as assessed by the standard procedure prior to the pandemic as a benchmark because it would be more reliable and fairer, causing less grievances and complaints from students. ...
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only brought about sociocultural, psychological and economic challenges, but also educational problems that have entailed radical policy changes to allow universities and colleges to fulfil their role. Before the pandemic, the majority of university courses were designed for face-to-face settings; but under the social distancing policies since Covid-19, institutions have had to react quickly, revising their teaching and assessment policies to ensure that education continues for all students and accommodate the new remote reality of education. This paper provides a review of the changes in educational assessment and grading policies of universities around the world in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, where five key themes were identified: covid-19 binary grading system, revised regulations governing the final degree award, relaxed academic progression policies, revised extension, deferral and exceptional circumstances policies, and mark adjustments. This review will serve as a useful summary for institutions to reflect upon and inform planning strategies for subsequent unexpected future events.
... University graduates with higher degree classifications are more likely to receive better employment opportunities and secure postgraduate placement than graduates with lower degree classifications [18]. Madara and Namango [19] investigated graduation outcomes for students in five engineering disciplines at a Kenyan university for the period 2003 -2014. ...
The need for more engineers in Jamaica has increased in recent times. Recognizing that females are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), more efforts are being made to encourage females to pursue careers in STEM. Although engineering continues to be male dominated, there are a few engineering disciplines with relatively high female participation. Chemical engineering (ChE) is one of these engineering disciplines. In this study, gender differences in enrollment and persistence in ChE, the quality of degree obtained on completion and the job placement of female graduates were investigated. A survey was used to obtain qualitative information on factors that influence females to study ChE, and their gender-related experiences as students and STEM employees. The main findings revealed that females represented 41% of ChE intake, had higher rates of degree completion, were motivated by male role models to pursue engineering, and few females experienced some forms of gender-based discrimination in STEM employment. Based on the study, strategies were suggested to improve the number of females in STEM and to address the issues of gender bias in STEM employment.
... Another stream of the literature has studied the effects of performance in degrees on labour market outcomes. Students' academic performance, usually measured by the academic degree classification, is found to be positively correlated with graduate employability (Di Pietro [2017] and Feng and Graetz [2017]), but academic performance has no significant effect on workplace performance and its effect is only on student confidence in performing jobrelated tasks (Jackson 2018). A final related stream of the literature is on the relationship between placement year and students' skills development. ...
This paper studies the main determinants of salaries for economics students in their year-long industrial placements. Using three different sources of data on three cohorts of economics placement students, including demographic characteristics, academic performance, programme of studies and employability-related characteristics, we find that academic performance, job location and industry type are the main determinants of placement salaries. We show not only that students’ academic performance can increase the returns of the placement year due to the possibility of high salaries, but such returns significantly increase at the top of the salary distribution. Students’ previous job experience also matters for high-paying placements. Conversely, demographic characteristics, such as age, nationality and ethnic background, do not appear to determine placement salaries. Finally, we find no evidence of gender differences in wages.
... Because employers cannot direct observe the extent the applicants actually meet their requirements, they use available information to build assumptions. For employers using signals may be cost efficient, especially when they have large numbers of applicants and would need to invest an extensive amount of time and resources to screen all of them (Di Pietro, 2017). ...
Germany and Canada differ significantly regarding their migration policy as well as the structures of the national labour markets and their educational systems. This paper aims to analyse how these differences affect the labour market outcomes of immigrants and the usability of foreign qualifications and work experiences by using the health and ICT sectors as example. The comparison focuses on the question how qualifications and work experience serve as signals and are screened for in the recruiting process of enterprises. The results show clear differences as well as several commonalities between the two compared countries.
... Entrepreneurs with higher educational attainment are considered more likely to succeed in complex business environments (Coleman and Cohn, 2000;Hanlon and Saunders, 2007). In line with Bourdieu's assumption of higher education degrees holding a symbolic value (Bourdieu, 1997), and with Spence's signalling hypothesis of educational degrees (Spence, 1973), studies find higher Asian Journal of Social Science 48 (2020) 15-43 education attainments and degrees having a symbolic signalling effect: Often degree holders are being credited with having above average abilities or productivity relevant for the industry (Clark and Martorell, 2014;Di Pietro, 2017;Tyler et al., 2000). Autodidacts, lacking institutionalised capital such as a university diploma, and agents educated in the lower tier of the educational field are less likely to be trusted as to their competences (Bourdieu, 1997). ...
This study identifies what similar aspects determine access to financial capital for female entrepreneurs both in Denmark and Indonesia. Departing from a structuralist constructivist perspective (including the concepts of symbolic violence, social similarity, female otherness), we identify the impact of gender-discrimination, nationality, and further variables. The sample comprises 124 female respondents and, for reasons of comparison, 86 male respondents from Denmark and Indonesia. Binary logistic regressions and t-tests show that financial discrepancies between male and female entrepreneurs ( FE s) were larger in Indonesia than in Denmark. However, findings also suggest that gender discrimination prevails in both countries, as men have easier access to funds from family, banks, and angel investors. This study provides evidence of gender bias prevailing in both a maturing and a matured economy with a strong discourse on gender equality. We propose explaining the similarities in gender discrimination with veiled, structural discrimination being able to linger in both post-feminist, legally equality-granting, as well as in legally less egalitarian societies.
... Despite the consensus that developing employability skills is important, what constitutes a successful set of 'employability skills' is the subject of considerable discussion and there can be tension around where it should 'fit' in the academic curriculum (Di Pietro, 2017;McQuaid and Lindsay, 2005;Wilton, 2012). Tan and Laswad (2018) argue that employers are increasingly treating soft skills on a par with academic achievement. ...
Within Business Education, our students study technical skills and gain commercial knowledge which will equip them for their future careers. In addition, our students need to develop the ‘soft skills’ which employers are looking for when they recruit graduates. To create a pathway to employability, we have used a collaboration between a module leader and a Business School employability consultant to support second year students. We set out how we have included the consultant in planning and delivering specific topics within the module, and in giving formative feedback to students. In this way we have embedded employability skills in the curriculum and built a relational pathway to the Business School’s careers support for students.
... This issue is further complicated by substantial gaps in performance and outcomes 'between underrepresented groups and other students at every stage of higher education -from entry right through to transition into work' (Millward 2018). Although financial benefits are associated with possession of a university degree (Di Pietro 2017;OECD 2017), critics argue that assumptions of meritocracy are incompatible with the current context of the global graduate labour market, where demand for graduates has not kept pace with the number of graduates being 'produced' (Tholen and Brown 2018;Burke et al. 2017). ...
Significant expansions in higher education over the last few decades have raised concerns about an over-supply of graduates in the labour market, such that a degree no longer seamlessly translates into a graduate career or occupation, with the increased life chances this could bring. In this paper, we report a study of undergraduates’ perceptions of graduate careers and the graduate labour market. As the data showed perceptions were shaped strongly by social class we applied a Bourdieusian theoretical lens to examine the role of capitals and hysteresis of habitus on students’ expectations. The study demonstrates how the classed nature of the graduate labour market manifests itself through differences in the level of understanding and preparedness for navigating the labour market. We highlight the structural barriers ‘non-traditional’ graduates face when entering and navigating a volatile graduate labour market.
... Jepsen et al. (2016) exploited the GED passing threshold in a fuzzy RD design and found sorting effects for men right after graduation, but not for women. Other studies used RD designs to study the returns to degree classification (Di Pietro 2017, Feng and Graetz 2017, Khoo and Ost 2018. These studies generally found positive sorting effects. ...
This doctoral dissertation employs quasi-experimental empirical methods on administrative population data to investigate the causal relationship between high school dropout and its selected predictors, labour market consequences, and policies. Within this broad research agenda, contributions are made in four specific research topics. I first use coarsened exact matching and treatment effect bounds and find that children who were raised in a relatively modern family structure, a same-sex family, have a lower probability to drop out of high school than children who were raised in a different-sex family. I then consider the consequences of school dropout, by comparing the labour market outcomes of high school dropouts with labour market outcomes of high school graduates in both Belgium and the Netherlands. In Belgium, I use parental educational background as an instrumental variable and find no returns to a high school diploma. Conversely, in the Netherlands, I exploit standardized exit exams in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and find that, unlike in Belgium, the returns to a high school diploma are positive and can be explained by a high school diploma serving as an important signal of productivity on the labour market. Finally, I evaluate modular education in Belgium, a dropout prevention policy in which conventional courses are divided into smaller components or modules. Using a difference-in-differences framework, I find that modular education is an effective policy to tackle high school dropout, with largest effects on the foreign origin students.
... The words skills and employability could also be challenged, and career attributes, capitals or capabilities may be more suitable. Although degree classification is a key factor in establishing a graduate career (Di Pietro 2016), it is clear that it is a combination of attributes that employers seek. ...
Following identifications of gendered inconsistencies in higher education delivery [Ain, C., F. Sabir, and J. Willison. 2018. “Research Skills That men and Women Developed at University and Then Used in Workplaces.” Studies in Higher Education, Published online. doi:10.1080/03075079.2018.1496412], this work exposes unseen gender-related issues in the graduate population. With graduates prevalent as managers, developing management attributes and employability is emphasised across higher education. Meanwhile, notable disciplinary gender imbalances exist across education and this research explores employability in this context by triangulating Higher Education Statistics Agency and Higher Education Academy data with graduates' degree experiences. Findings reveal notable levels of employability-related support existing, with significant disciplinary variations in its visibility. Some remains unseen, especially in female-orientated disciplines, creating a gap populated by almost 50% more females than males. Consequently, fewer female graduates may recognise certain capabilities as being management-related, potentially resulting in slower career progression compared to male peers, as observed by the Office for National Statistics [ONS. 2019. Overeducation and Hourly Wages in the UK Labour Market; 2006 to 2017. London: Office for National Statistics. Accessed May 2, 2019. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/compendium/economicreview/april2019/overeducationandhourlywagesintheuklabourmarket2006to2017]. Opportunities exist across disciplines, especially the arts, humanities and social sciences, to enhance visibilities of employability-related support.
Background
Students' initial experiences at university often shape their attendance and attainment. For some students, university is a positive experience, whereas others seemingly struggle and have more negative emotions. Unearthing distinctions in first‐year students' emotionality may be valuable in understanding their academic engagement and performance.
Aims
The study's aim was to identify distinct profiles of students based on their achievement emotions and explore whether these profiles differed in university attendance and attainment. At least three emotional profiles were hypothesized ( positive ; moderate ; negative ) with a positive profile expected to display the highest attendance and attainment.
Sample
Participants were 294 first‐year undergraduate students from a university in the United Kingdom ( M age = 19.33 years; 127 men; 162 women).
Methods
Students completed self‐report measures of eight achievement emotions for general learning. Attendance and attainment data were collected from official records. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to profile students on their achievement emotions. Analysis of covariance explored profile differences in attendance and attainment.
Results
Four emotional profiles emerged: positive ; moderate ; negative ; mixed‐valence (both positive and negative activating emotions). The positive and mixed‐valence groups displayed equally high attendance compared to the moderate and negative groups. The positive group obtained higher academic attainment than the mixed‐valence and negative emotion groups, but not the moderate group.
Conclusions
The findings highlight the diverse emotional experiences of first‐year university students and the existence of co‐occurring positive and negative activation emotions. This evidence may be of practical worth to educators in understanding variability in students' emotions, attendance and attainment.
Employers use various proxies to predict the future labour productivity levels of the job applicants. Success in school, especially in high‐level coursework, is among the most widely used proxies to screen entry‐level candidates. We estimate the causal effect of graduating with honours (i.e. with a grade point average of 3.00 and above out of 4.00) on the starting wages of economics majors in Türkiye. Using comprehensive micro data on all economics majors between 2014 and 2018, matched with administrative records about their first jobs, we implement a regression discontinuity analysis to investigate whether there is any statistically significant jump in the starting wages at the honours‐degree cutoff. We find that graduating with honours increases the wages of males, while there is no impact on females. We further document that the impact on males is almost entirely driven by the graduates of non‐elite universities. In particular, graduating with an honours degree increases the entry wages of males from non‐elite universities by about 4%, on average. We provide an explanation for these patterns using the theory of statistical discrimination. We discuss the potential reasons behind the heterogeneous signal value of graduating with honours between males vs. females and elite versus non‐elite university graduates.
Graduate employability is a major focal point of higher education. Designing curricula that equip graduates with the skills and attributes necessary to gain and retain employment is a challenge for Universities worldwide. This article investigates the perception differential between students, academics, and industry professionals. The aim is to identify the relevant skills and attributes to facilitate the transition of mechanical engineering graduates from education to employment. The results establish an upper second-class degree as the most desirable qualification. Studying a professional-body accredited course and being a student member of a professional institution are seen as crucial, despite the latter not being recognised as such by students. Significant differences are identified in the importance of Information Technology skills and software packages, with an institutional bias identified amongst academics. Lastly, the key skills and attributes to secure graduate employment are determined, with striking differences between industry professionals and students, the former desiring a personal and professional attitude and professional conduct above all else, the importance of which is underestimated by students. The findings provide novel insights into employability skills for mechanical engineers, and it is envisaged they may contribute to aligning engineering curricula with employer expectations, allowing graduates and academics to identify key employability skills and attributes, and improving graduate employment.
The numbers of UK students choosing to study abroad for a period has increased steadily over the years, with many students citing academic, professional, linguistic and cultural reasons as their key motivations. However, while there is an abundance of literature on the advantage of study abroad (SA) for linguistic learning, there is less known about the academic impact of studying abroad. In addition, because SA is largely a process of self‐selection, this makes it difficult to derive unbiased estimates of its impact on academic achievement. Using data on students from a London‐based Russell Group university, and categorising SA students as those who participated in credit‐seeking SA programmes through Erasmus or bilateral/multilateral agreements with partner universities, this paper uses individual fixed effects to compare the post‐SA grades for students who sojourned with their expected grades had they not sojourned, as well as with their non‐SA counterparts. The results are quite robust across subgroups and indicate that grades in year 3 are less than expected for the SA group, given their pre‐sojourn grades. To tackle the problem of self‐selection, outcomes for SA students were compared to the group who applied but did not eventually study abroad, and to the outcomes for students who did not apply.
Several recent papers employ regression discontinuity (RD) designs to estimate the causal effect of a diploma or similar credentials on wages. I build a model of knowledge acquisition, test‐taking and labour market careers that mimics the settings studied in these papers. I show that a positive RD estimate is evidence for information frictions in the labour market, but caution that the relative importance of acquired knowledge and innate talent in the production function cannot be separately identified. While a positive RD estimate does not reveal whether students study too much or too little compared to the social optimum, the rate at which RD estimates decline with labour market experience indicates the speed of employer learning, a parameter that is critical for the extent of inefficiency in study choices.
This study investigates the impact on first hiring outcomes of two main curriculum vitae (CV) characteristics by which graduates with a tertiary education degree distinguish themselves from their peers: degree class and extra‐curricular activities. These characteristics were randomly assigned to 2,800 fictitious job applications that were sent to real vacancies in Belgium. Academic performance and extra‐curricular engagement enhance job interview rates by 7.0% (CI 95% [0.3%, 13.7%]) and 6.5% (CI 95% [−0.5%, 13.4%]), respectively. We did not find evidence for these CV characteristics to reinforce or reduce their effect.
This article discusses concerns raised by the Office for Students (OfS) and other policy actors regarding perceived grade inflation in undergraduate degree classifications in England. I employ a desert-based justice philosophical framework to argue that the criticisms made by the OfS can be understood in light of the position that degree classifications occupy at the intersections of two distinctive logics of desert: as retrospective in virtue of past actions; and as utilitarian future-oriented. I then draw from literature in the sociology of education and work to contend that the utilitarian desert-bases of degree classifications, which the OfS aims to safeguard, have been undermined by the shifting relationship between higher education credentials and the labour market. I suggest that criticism of grade inflation (if appropriate) finds a stronger philosophical foundation in the retrospective bases of desert than in utilitarian ones.
Individual differences in ‘adaptability’ – cognitive, behavioral, and emotional adjustment in the face of change, novelty, and uncertainty – are theorized to influence students’ academic achievement and course satisfaction; although the literature examining these relations in tertiary education is sparse. In the present study, first-year undergraduate students were surveyed for their adaptability, academic buoyancy, and academic motivation (predictor variables) along with their mid-course academic achievement and course satisfaction (outcome variables). Correlation analyses revealed that adaptability was significantly associated with all other variables in this study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that after controlling for individual differences in academic buoyancy and academic motivation, adaptability explained unique variance in both academic achievement and course satisfaction. These findings have important implications for researchers and educators seeking to understand first-year students’ adjustment to university and the influence this may have on their educational outcomes.
How does performance at university affect labor market outcomes? Employing a regression discontinuity design, we show that university degree class causally affects graduates’ industry, wages, and earnings. Our sample consists of students at the London School of Economics, and our data combine administrative records with the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey. We estimate that receiving a First Class degree instead of an Upper Second increases the probability of working in a high-wage industry by fourteen percentage points, leads to three percent higher wages, and yields two percent higher annual salaries. For the comparison between Upper and Lower Seconds, the corresponding figures are ten, seven, and four. Effects are larger for males and graduates of math-intensive degree programs. We show that this is consistent with a model of statistical discrimination, in which employers attach more importance to the degree class signal if it is more informative about underlying ability.
This study examined the effects of individual difference variables (self-esteem, job search self-efficacy, and perceived control over job search outcomes) and job search behaviors (preparatory and active job search behavior, and job search intensity) on the employment status of recent university graduates at the time of graduation and 4 months later. The results indicate that only job search self-efficacy predicted the three job search behaviors. Job search self-efficacy also predicted employment status at graduation, and perceived control predicted employment status at both time periods. Active job search behavior and job search intensity predicted employment status at graduation, and preparatory job search behavior predicted employment status 4 months after graduation. Implications for the design and measurement of future job search research are discussed.
Purpose
– This paper seeks to examine the changes in the methods of graduate recruitment and selection that have been used by UK‐based organisations and to establish the reasons for the main changes and developments in the process of attracting and recruiting graduates.
Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected through the use of a structured questionnaire. Questionnaires were sent to 700 UK‐based employers selected from the Prospects Directory, the Graduate Employment and Training (GET) Directory and the Times Top 100 Graduate Recruiters. The response rate was just over 50 per cent and the data were analysed by using the statistical analysis software SPSS. The variables used were organisation size, recruitment methods, selection methods, cost, skills and reasons for the use of methods.
Findings
– The analysis has shown that all employers, regardless of organisation size or activity type, tend to use more sophisticated, objective and cost‐effective methods of recruitment and selection than before. The process of graduate recruitment and selection in the UK has become more person‐related than job‐oriented because many employers are more interested in the attitudes, personality and transferable skills of applicants than the type or level of qualification acquired. Although some of the usual methods such as interviewing remain popular, there is a greater variety of ways by which graduates are attracted to and selected for their first jobs.
Originality/value
– The findings of this study are expected to be useful for employers considering the introduction of new graduate recruitment programmes and for those wishing to improve their existing ones as well as for institutions of higher education to reconsider the type of knowledge and skills they provide in order to prepare their students for the real world of work.
Schooling is publicly provided by every nation and higher education by most. Graduate employment is a subject which brings together the concerns of macro social policy and the interests of the individual student. Higher education policy in South Africa and elsewhere is placing increasing emphasis on institutional accountability with often clear reference to the "employability" of an institution's graduates. These indicators purport to measure the success or otherwise in different academic disciplines in obtaining a satisfactory first destination employment position after their graduation. Little research has thus far been conducted into the job-getting ability of new graduates. This study draws upon an alumni outcomes assessment survey undertaken by a typical sizable South African higher education institution into its alumni pool to determine the impact of its graduates' education on their job placement, job satisfaction, career advancement, earnings and intellectual development. Its contribution lies in the perspectives given to some specific performance indicators in the output component of the higher institutional effectiveness evaluation model and its value to intelligently inform the strategic management process of the institution.
The present paper makes use of detailed information gathered at university department level, combined with graduate survey data, to assess the impact of different kinds of employability skills initiative on graduate labour market performance. We find that structured work experience and employer involvement in degree course design and delivery have clear positive effects on the ability of graduates to secure employment in 'graduate-level' jobs. However, a measure of departmental involvement in explicit teaching and assessment of employability skills is not significantly related to labour market performance.
Given the increasing share of the EU budget devoted to Regional Policy, several studies have tried to identify the impact of structural funds on economic growth. However, so far no consensus has been reached. We assess Regional Policy effects through a non-experimental comparison group method, the regression discontinuity design, and a novel regional dataset for the 1994–2006 period. We exploit the allocation rule of EU transfers by comparing regions with a per capita GDP level just below the eligibility threshold (75% of EU average) with those just above. Our findings show a positive impact of EU Regional Policy on economic growth.
Dado que la proporción del presupuesto de la UE destinada a políticas regionales es cada vez mayor, varios estudios han tratado de identificar el impacto de los fondos estructurales en el crecimiento económico. Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se ha logrado un consenso. Evaluamos aquí los efectos de políticas regionales por medio de un método de grupo de comparación no experimental, el diseño de regresión en discontinuidad, y un conjunto de datos regionales no usados hasta ahora para el período 1994–2006. Aprovechamos la regla de asignación de transferencias de la UE mediante la comparación de las regiones con un PIB per cápita por debajo del umbral de elegibilidad (75% del promedio de la UE) con las que están inmediatamente por encima. Nuestros resultados muestran un impacto positivo de las políticas regionales de la UE en el crecimiento económico.
An increase over time in the proportion of young people obtaining a degree is likely to impact on the relative ability compositions (i) of graduates and non-graduates and (ii) across graduates with different classes of degree award. In a signalling framework, we examine the implications of this on biases across cohorts in estimates of educational returns. In an empirical analysis, we exploit administrative data on whole populations of UK university students for ten graduate cohorts to investigate the extent to which early labour market outcomes vary with class of degree awarded. Consistent with our theoretical model, we find that returns by degree class increased across cohorts during a period of substantial graduate expansion. We also corroborate the empirical findings with evidence from complementary data on graduate sample surveys.
We outline a framework for causal inference in setting where assignment to a binary treatment is ignorable, but compliance with the assignment is not perfect so that the receipt of treatment is nonignorable. To address the problems associated with comparing subjects by the ignorable assignment--an "intention-to-treat analysis"--we make use of instrumental variables, which have long been used by economists in the context of regression models with constant treatment effects. We show that the instrumental variables (IV) estimand can be embedded within the Rubin Causal Model (RCM) and that under some simple and easily interpretable assumptions, the IV estimand is the average causal effect for a subgroup of units, the compliers. Without these assumptions, the IV estimand is simply the ratio of intention-to-treat causal estimands with no interpretation as an average causal effect. The advantages of embedding the IV approach in the RCM are that it clarifies the nature of critical assumptions needed for a causal interpretation, and moreover allows us to consider sensitivity of the results to deviations from key assumptions in a straightforward manner. We apply our analysis to estimate the effect of veteran status in the Vietnam era on mortality, using the lottery number assigned priority for the draft as an instrument, and we use our results to investigate the sensitivity of the conclusions to critical assumptions. Statistics Version of Record
We outline a framework for causal inference in settings where assignment to a binary treatment is ignorable, but compliance with the assignment is not perfect so that the receipt of treatment is nonignorable. To address the problems associated with comparing subjects by the ignorable assignment - an "intention-to-treat analysis" - we make use of instrumental variables, which have long been used by economists in the context of regression models with constant treatment effects. We show that the instrumental variables (IV) estimand can be embedded within the Rubin Causal Model (RCM) and that under some simple and easily interpretable assumptions, the IV estimand is the average causal effect for a subgroup of units, the compliers. Without these assumptions, the IV estimand is simply the ratio of intention-to-treat causal estimands with no interpretation as an average causal effect. The advantages of embedding the IV approach in the RCM are that it clarifies the nature of critical assumptions needed for a causal interpretation, and moreover allows us to consider sensitivity of the results to deviations from key assumptions in a straightforward manner. We apply our analysis to estimate the effect of veteran status in the Vietnam era on mortality, using the lottery number that assigned priority for the draft as an instrument, and we use our results to investigate the sensitivity of the conclusions to critical assumptions.
Analysis of labor statistics and employer surveys indicate that the unemployment rate for university graduates may be 22 percent and that their prospects for employment have worsened over time. In addition, the share of graduates obtaining employment in the public sector has fallen drastically. The messages from the managers of surveyed firms are clear: (a) university graduates are poorly trained and unproductive on the job; (b) graduate skills have steadily deteriorated over the past decade; and (c) shortcomings are particularly severe in oral and written communication, and in applied technical skills. Employers frequently compensate for insufficient academic preparation by organizing remedial courses for new employees. This increases the firms’ operating costs, and reduces their profitability and competitiveness.
This paper examines the labor market outcomes of two different forms of cross-border higher education degree programs (i.e., full study abroad vs. twinning) between Malaysia and Japan. Specifically, based on a new graduate survey, it examines whether there are differences in the labor market outcomes between the two programs and what other factors have significant effects on the labor market outcomes. The results of regression analysis indicate that there are no significant differences between the two programs in terms of employment immediately after graduation, being in graduate-level positions in current jobs, and in the levels of earnings in current jobs. Instead, among the variables related to education, the degree fields, internship experiences, and university rankings are significant for the first employment. For current work, the results suggest that the post-graduation qualifications such as junior engineers and English and Japanese language skills become important. Based on our findings, considering the labor market outcomes as a purpose of studying abroad, twinning program between two countries could be one of the tools of human capital development.
Abstract What is the Value of the GED to Dropouts Who Pursue the Credential? This paper uses a unique data set constructed from Florida GED and Unemployment Insurance (UI) administrative records to estimate the impact of the GED on the UI quarterly earnings of male high school dropouts who seek the credential. Estimates from several different specifications all indicate that acquisition of a GED leads to greater quarterly earnings growth among,male dropouts who attempt to obtain a GED. Estimated
The rapid growth in undergraduate business education over the last three decades has coincided with the growing dominance of an economic ideology of higher education (HE); that its role is principally one of contributing to national competitiveness through the development of graduate ‘employability’. In particular, undergraduate business education has been promoted as one means by which to address long‐held concerns about managerial skills shortages in the UK and employers’ criticism over the work‐readiness of graduates. There are concerns, however, about the extent to which HE is able to adequately prepare graduates for employment. Drawing on data drawn from a questionnaire survey of 1999 graduates, four years after graduation, and a programme of follow‐up qualitative interviews, this article reports on the experiences of recent business and management graduates. In particular this article explores the relationship between skills developed on undergraduate programmes and those subsequently used in employment, particularly in managerial careers.
Modularisation of first degree courses in the UK has led to degree classifications being determined 'by formula' in the majority of cases, according to systems for combining students' marks or grades which may vary between institutions. This article discusses the effects of different systems for selecting and combining module marks on students' degree classifications and shows that these effects depend on the variation in a student's marks for different modules. The potential for an aggregation system to influence students' behaviour and hence their future achievement is identified. The degree classifications obtained when different aggregation systems are used to classify a cohort of honours graduates from a modular degree course are compared. Substantial variation is found in the marks achieved by an individual student in different modules and this may lead to their being placed in different classes by different methods of aggregation. Analysis of the variation in the performance of individual students is identified as a potentially important tool for monitoring the operation of modular schemes and may also help to explain why some groups of students tend to achieve higher degree classifications than others.
This study examined employment outcome among recipients of a liberal arts BA at a state university, 1 year (N = 218) and 3 years (N = 156) after graduation. A working definition of underemployment (educationally inappropriate employment) was developed and described. The relationship of age, sex, and previous educational and occupational experience to occupational and educational outcome was examined, using cross-tabular analysis with controls to specify high-risk groups. Variables reflecting occupational outcome were each differently related to the independent variables, and many relationships changed over time. Educationally appropriate employment was related to college major and to participation in internship or work-study programs. Income and perceived stability of present job were linked to age, sex, and previous employment experience. Early unemployment was related to age, sex, previous employment experience, and inversely to grade point average. Patterns of occupational change were linked to sex, major, internships, and grade point average. Educational outcome was related to age, sex, major, grade point average, and first year employment outcome.
This paper provides an introduction and "user guide" to Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs for empirical researchers. It presents the basic theory behind the research design, details when RD is likely to be valid or invalid given economic incentives, explains why it is considered a "quasi-experimental" design, and summarizes different ways (with their advantages and disadvantages) of estimating RD designs and the limitations of interpreting these estimates. Concepts are discussed using examples drawn from the growing body of empirical research using RD. ( JEL C21, C31)
Although economists acknowledge that various indicators of educational attainment (e.g., highest grade completed, credentials earned) might serve as signals of a worker’s productivity, the practical importance of education-based signaling is not clear. In this paper we estimate the signaling value of a high school diploma, the most commonly held credential in the U.S. To do so, we compare the earnings of workers that barely passed and barely failed high school exit exams, standardized tests that, in some states, students must pass to earn a high school diploma. Since these groups should, on average, look the same to firms (the only difference being that "barely passers" have a diploma while "barely failers" do not), this earnings comparison should identify the signaling value of the diploma. Using linked administrative data on earnings and education from two states that use high school exit exams (Florida and Texas), we estimate that a diploma has little effect on earnings. For both states, we can reject that individuals with a diploma earn eight percent more than otherwise-identical individuals without one; combining the state-specific estimates, we can reject signaling values larger than five or six percent. While these confidence intervals include economically important signaling values, they exclude both the raw earnings difference between workers with and without a diploma and the regression-adjusted estimates reported in the previous literature.
This chapter discusses job market signaling. The term market signaling is not exactly a part of the well-defined, technical vocabulary of the economist. The chapter presents a model in which signaling is implicitly defined and explains its usefulness. In most job markets, the employer is not sure of the productive capabilities of an individual at the time he hires him. The fact that it takes time to learn an individual's productive capabilities means that hiring is an investment decision. On the basis of previous experience in the market, the employer has conditional probability assessments over productive capacity with various combinations of signals and indices. This chapter presents an introduction to Spence's more extensive analysis of market signaling.
This paper tests the labor market signaling hypothesis for the General Educational Development (GED) equivalency credential. Using a unique data set containing GED test scores and Social Security Administration (SSA) earnings data, we exploit variation in GED status generated by differential state GED passing standards to identify the signaling value of the GED, net of human capital effects. Our results indicate that the GED signal increases the earnings of young white dropouts by 10 to 19 percent. We find no statistically significant effects for minority dropouts. © 2000 the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The UK government is introducing new sets of indicators designed to measure the performance of universities. A first wave of indicators was published in December 1999. A performance indicator based on graduate employment outcomes will follow. This paper proposes a method for developing employment-related performance indicators based on the analysis of data on the first destinations of a full cohort of leavers from pre-1992 universities in the United Kingdom. We analyse the determinants of graduate first destinations and suggest a method for the construction of university performance indicators. We also discuss limitations of league tables based on university performance indicators.
Does Education Raise Productivity, or Just Reflect it?
- Arnaud Chevalier
- Colm Harmon
- Ian Walker
- Yu Zhu
Higher Education Outcomes, Graduate Employment and University Performance Indicators
- Massimiliano Bratti
- Abigail Mcknight
- Robin Naylor
- Jeremy Smith
Evaluating Developmental Education Programs in Higher Education
- Sally A Lesik
The Economic Returns to Graduating with Honors-evidence from Law graduates. Paper presented at the fifth international workshop on
- Ronny Freier
- Mathias Schumann
- Thomas Siedler