TY - JOUR
T1 - Higher education and non-pecuniary returns in Germany
T2 - tracing the mechanisms behind field of study effects at the start of the career
AU - Klein, Markus
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Irish Educational Studies on 24 June 2011, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03323315.2011.569144. © Educational Studies Association of Ireland, 2011.
PY - 2011/6/24
Y1 - 2011/6/24
N2 - This article addresses the question of why fields of study differ in early labour market returns. It is argued that the higher the potential training costs of a field of study the more problematic the labour market integration of graduates. This is due to the fact that employers use the occupational specificity and selectivity of a study programme as a signal for the expected training costs. In addition, the article suggests that structural relations between fields and occupations act as mediators for the effect of field of study on non-pecuniary returns. Using the German HIS Graduate Panel 1997, the results indicate that a lack of occupational specificity is partly responsible for differences between fields of study. Selectivity measures do not contribute to an explanation. As expected, working in the public sector and the required expertise for a job strongly mediate field of study differences.
AB - This article addresses the question of why fields of study differ in early labour market returns. It is argued that the higher the potential training costs of a field of study the more problematic the labour market integration of graduates. This is due to the fact that employers use the occupational specificity and selectivity of a study programme as a signal for the expected training costs. In addition, the article suggests that structural relations between fields and occupations act as mediators for the effect of field of study on non-pecuniary returns. Using the German HIS Graduate Panel 1997, the results indicate that a lack of occupational specificity is partly responsible for differences between fields of study. Selectivity measures do not contribute to an explanation. As expected, working in the public sector and the required expertise for a job strongly mediate field of study differences.
KW - field of study
KW - labour market outcomes
KW - occupations
KW - mechanisms
KW - Germany
U2 - 10.1080/03323315.2011.569144
DO - 10.1080/03323315.2011.569144
M3 - Article
VL - 30
SP - 253
EP - 270
JO - Irish Educational Studies
JF - Irish Educational Studies
SN - 0332-3315
IS - 2
ER -