As higher education continues to expand and an increasing number of graduates enter the workforce, this insightful book considers the crucial social and economic questions raised by this societal shift. Fatima Suleman, Pedro Videira and Pedro Teixeira bring together an array of experts to illustrate the connections between higher education and the labour market across continents.
Covering both developed and developing countries, chapter authors identify common employment patterns and anomalies of the employment conditions of graduates in different economies. Analysis explores the higher levels of overqualification in countries with low levels of high-tech manufacturing and service sectors and examines the overall benefits of higher education from a labour market perspective. This crucial book argues that the relationship between higher education and the skilled labour market is increasingly complex, and that higher education faces significant challenges to promote the employability of graduates whilst the labour market system attempts to absorb this skilled workforce.
This is an invaluable resource for students, academics and graduates specialising in higher education, education policy, employment relations and labour policy. Its statistical analysis of the changing international labour market is also key for labour market stakeholders and policymakers.
Industry Reviews
'Through a diverse set of country studies, this impressive book demonstrates the complexity of graduate employability in high-participation systems of higher education. While the stratification of outcomes among graduates is a common finding across diverse national cases, the scale and texture of the problem is nuanced and country specific. This expertly researched book is essential reading for anyone interested in the role of higher education in the economy and will be of great interest to both academics and policymakers.' -- Brendan Cantwell, Michigan State University, US
'This book addresses one of the most pressing issues that education and economics has had to confront - the relationship between higher education and the labour market. The strength of this volume is that this issue is studied comparatively, drawing attention to the different kinds of education and economy that determine the fate of graduates.' -- Hugh Lauder, University of Bath, UK
'This book on the effect of higher education massification on graduate labour markets provides important insights into this complex but highly relevant phenomenon. The differences in socioeconomic and higher education contexts addressed in the book offer a valuable basis for analysis of global trends and lessons and recommendations for the future.' -- Hans de Wit, Boston College, US
'Through a refined and nuanced analysis based on case studies from around the globe, this timely volume sheds light on the importance of systematic accounts on graduate employability that move beyond classic human capital postulates and, instead, consider the complex interplay between structural dimensions and institutional features - social, cultural, economic - that play an important role in the observed outcomes.' -- Romulo Pinheiro, University of Agder, Norway
