Harald Schomburg

Employability and Mobility of Bachelor Graduates in Europe

In June 1999, the ministers of 29 European countries signed the ‘Bologna Declaration’, according to which a cycle structure of programs and degrees was to be established and a ‘European higher education area’ implemented by the year 2010. Based on surveys of graduates from institutions of higher education which are periodically undertaken in various European countries (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, and United Kingdom), this book examines the following questions: What proportion of bachelor students gained international experience in the course of their study? How many bachelor graduates, opt for employment and how many for further study? What are the labor market experiences of those bachelor graduates who started to work compared to graduates from Masters programs? The contents are: Bologna: motor or stumbling block for the mobility and employability of graduates? / Ulrich Teichler (pp. 3-42); Moving to the Bologna structure: facing challenges in the Austrian higher education system / Helmut Guggenberger, Maria Keplinger and Martin Unger (pp. 43-68); Professional success due to scarcity?: bachelor graduates in the Czech Republic / Radim Ryska and Martin Zelenka (pp. 69-88); Bachelor graduates in Germany: internationally mobile, smooth transition and professional success / Harald Schomburg (pp. 89-110); The vocationalisation of university programmes in France: its consequences for employability and mobility / Jean-Francois Giret, Christine Guegnard and Claire Michot (pp. 111-128); Bachelor graduates in Hungary in the transitional period of higher education system / Laszlo Kiss and Zsuzsanna Veroszta (pp. 129-142); Mixed outcomes of the Bologna process in Italy / Andrea Cammelli, Gilberto Antonelli, Angelo di Francia, Giancarlo Gasperoni and Matteo Sgarzi (pp. 143-170); Employability and mobility of bachelor graduates in the Netherlands / Jim Allen and Johan Coenen (pp. 171-184); Employability and mobility of Norwegian graduates post Bologna / Liv Anne Storen, Jannecke Wiers-Jenssen and Clara Ase Arnesen (pp. 185-208); The employability and mobility of bachelor graduates in Poland / Gabriela Grotkowska (pp. 209-228); The UK bachelors degree: a sound basis for flexible engagement with an unregulated labour market? / Brenda Little (pp. 229-252); Employability and mobility of bachelor graduates: the findings of graduate surveys in ten European countries on the assessment of the impact of the Bologna reform / Harald Schomburg (pp. 253-274).

DOES THE PROGRAMME MATTER? APPROACH AND MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE KASSEL GRADUATE SURVEY

This study attempts to establish the extent to which study programmes and study conditions within selected fields of study vary among institutions of higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany and the extent to which diversification has an impact on the careers and work assignments of graduates. All persons who graduated during the 1983‐1984 and 1984‐1985 academic years in mechanical engineering, economics/business, and social work from seven institutions of higher education were surveyed during their final year of study, again in a longitudinal study two years after graduation, and finally, four to five years after graduation. The authors come to the conclusion that the vertical diversification of higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany has had a less pronounced effect on the careers of graduates, over the last few years, than had been expected. No dominant elements of study programmes and study conditions could be identified which might explain study outcomes, careers, and job assig...

Bachelor Graduates in Germany: Internationally Mobile, Smooth Transition and Professional Success

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the higher education system in the Federal Republic of Germany was characterised by a two-type structure. Most study programmes at universities required 4-5 years of study and led to “Magister”, “Diplom” or “Staatsexamen” degrees, all considered as equivalent to a Master. The study programmes at Fachhochschulen (translated into English as universities of applied sciences) were called three-year programmes with additional internships and possible examination periods until the 1980s and four-years programmes including internships and possible examination periods in the 1990s leading to a “Diplom” degree; this tended to be considered internationally as “Bachelor+” and also was counted in UNESCO statistics as ISCED 5A. About one tenth of graduates from universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) continued their studies at universities. In 1998, 11 per cent of the corresponding age group was awarded a university degree and 6 per cent a Fachhochschule degree. Graduates from both types were about 28 years old on average at the time of graduation.

Employability and Mobility of Bachelor Graduates: The Findings of Graduate Surveys in Ten European Countries on the Assessment of the Impact of the Bologna Reform

In this analysis of graduate surveys undertaken in recent years in ten European countries, we examine the findings which can be considered as valuable for the response to key questions regarding the impact of the Bologna reform: What is the situation of “mobility” and “employability” after some ten years of efforts to establish a convergent system of study programmes and degrees?

Analyzing the Results of Study in Higher Education and the Requirements of the World of Work

Since the 1990s, interest in obtaining more precise information about the results of study and their relation to the requirements of the world of work has increased in many countries across the world, including Germany. Three reasons for this growing interest can be identified.

The Professional Work of Graduates

The vast majority of higher education graduates approached in the REFLEX survey are working as managers or professionals according to the ISCO classification of their job title. However, the stereotypical image of the “classical professions” does not describe the situation of most graduates. The typical characteristics attributed to those working in such professions, such as independent client-professional relationships, and exclusivity of one’s own field of study, only apply to a minority of graduates, and even the work of many “classical professionals” is monitored by their supervisors. Consequently, one of the main conclusions of this chapter is that the professional work of higher education graduates is characterized by a high degree of differentiation. To explore this differentiation, a typology of professional types was developed in which managers, semi-professionals, science and technology experts, business and social science experts and non-professionals are distinguished in addition to the - relatively small - group of classical professionals. Using this typology, we explored differences between groups of graduates according to the three key concepts of knowledge, organizsation and power. Although a majority of graduates in all groups, even the non-professionals, were working in jobs that showed some relation to their field of study, real exclusivity of knowledge turned out to be only dominant among the group of classical professionals, and to a lesser extent the semi-professionals.