Secondary Research
Randi and Erik (2010) analyzed the factors behind the increase in underemployment across Norway with focus on the gender factor. The analysis was based on a survey data by the Labor Force Agency and showed that economic changes in the recent past brought about the changing underemployment levels for both men and women. The labor market in Norway is greatly gender segregated with the processes as well as characteristics of the underemployment differing between the male and the female dominated sectors. In the results, the male dominated sectors are found to be more exposed as well as sensitive to the economic fluctuations compared to the female dominated ones. It also indicated that the underemployed men are predominantly temporarily expelled from the jobs on a part-time basis, while the women are to great extent excluded from the contracts that require longer working-hours.
Irene and Robert (2010) empirically examined the extent of the underemployment amongst the graduates from Scottish higher learning institution. More specifically, the study used micro-data collected by the Statistical Agency for the Higher Education to calculate employment rate in non-graduate jobs. In the study, both postgraduate and undergraduate were considered. The analysis results indicated that underemployment was a key problem, mostly amongst the undergraduate graduates. About a third of the undergraduates from the Scottish Higher Learning Institutions employed about six months upon graduation were in jobs requiring none of the skills obtained in their study. However, that rate was indicated to decline with experience and age.
However in a study by Sandy, Jennifer and Kathleen (2013) regarding the benefits of the 4 year degree, several benefits were identified. Adults having higher education are found to be more active citizens compared to the others. Also, college education promotes healthier lifestyles, hence reducing the costs of health care. It was also noted that the movement up the socioeconomic ladder was much probable for the college educated adults. Finally, substantial evidence in the study indicated that those associations were a result of the educational attainment, rather than of the individual characteristics
References
Abel, Jaison, Richard Deitz, and Yaqin Su. “Are Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs?” Current Issues in Economics and Finance: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 20.1 (2014):
Irene Mosc and Robert E. Wright. Under-employment of Scottish Graduates? Impact of Higher Education Institutions on Regional Economics: A Joint Research Initiative, 2010. Web. 24 March 2016. https://ewds.strath.ac.uk/Portals/8/DisPapMoscaWrightNewVersion.pdf
Janelle Jones and John Schmitt. “A College Degree is No Guarantee”. Center for Economic and Policy Research, May 2014.Web. 24 March 2016. http://cepr.net/documents/black-coll-grads-2014-05.pdf
Randi Kjeldstad and Erik H. Nymoen. “Underemployment in a gender segregated labour market.” Statistics Norway, Research Department: Discussion Papers No. 613, March 2010.
Sandy Baum, Jennifer Ma and Kathleen Payea. Education Pays: “The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society.” Trends in Higher Education Series, 2013. Web. 24 March 2016. https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/education-pays-2013-full-report.pdf
