Marge Unt

Transition from Educational System to Labour Market in the European Union A Comparison between New and Old Members

Theoretically, the central research question of this article pertains to the way in which national institutional arrangements, namely educational systems, and related modes of labour markets and welfare provisions, affect the aggregate effectiveness of youth labour market integration in the new EU member states in comparison to the old EU countries. The study utilizes the European Union Labour Force Survey 2004. Results of the cluster analysis provide substantial support for distinct patterns of labour market entry in terms of the stratification of labour market exclusion, downgrading risk and labour market mobility of LM entrants in different CEE countries. Furthermore, the article reveals also new aspects of labour market entry in the EU-15 countries while considering not only educational signalling but also the labour market flexibility dimension.

Transition from School to Work in Transition Economies

This paper explores school-to-work transitions in three new EU Member states, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia, focusing on the effect of the level of education and social background on the timing of the first significant employment and the match between educational qualifications and occupation among school leavers. So-called cohort effects are a focal point as well, since transition process and outcomes seem to be largely influenced by the dynamics of economic and social changes in the transition economies. To explore the early career developments of job entrants in the three transition countries during the 1990s, the study utilizes the European Union Labour Force Survey ad hoc module on school-to-work transitions, which has been launched in Hungary, Slovenia in 2000 and in Estonia in 2002. Event history methods are applied to explore transition to first significant employment, while the match of educational qualification and occupational attainment is modelled using multinomial logistic regression techniques.

The Role of Vocational Specificity of Educational Credentials for Labour Market Entry in Estonia and Slovenia

This article compares entry to their first stable employment among young people in Estonia and Slovenia after the fall of Communism, when the two countries opted for two different models with regard to the organization of their educational systems. Results show that in Slovenia with the passage of time after the start of reforms, education—job linkages among young school leavers have become stronger. Those with vocational credentials and tertiary education have been able to secure their first stable employment more quickly than the rest. Ultimate losers of the transformation in Slovenia appear to be school leavers without any vocational training, whose first job entry chances have significantly deteriorated. In Estonia, on the other hand, school leavers, irrespective of their educational qualifications, hardly differ regarding the speed of entry to their first significant employment. Neither those with vocational credentials at the lower-secondary level, nor university graduates have been able to secure their first stable employment more quickly than the least educated. The analyses are conducted on the basis of the Labour Force Survey ad hoc module on school-to-work transitions applying event history techniques.

Self-employment in Estonia: Forced move or voluntary engagement?

Abstract This article examines the importance of ‘pull’ and ‘push’ factors in self-employment drawing upon the experience of post-socialist Estonia, where self-employment has risen sharply from a negligible level since 1989. Drawing on quantitative data, and also qualitative data, the article identifies a range of different types of self-employment in Estonia and explores the reasons for their different levels of success.

What is the role of education in the recruitment process? Employers’ practices and experiences of graduates from tertiary educational institutions in Estonia

Since the 1980s, growing globalisation and economic restructuring coupled with expansion of tertiary education contributed to tremendous change in the labour market entry process in Europe. Most previous studies have been quantitative, concentrated on the supply aspect and analysed the role of education as the explanatory variable of youth labour market outcome equations. By contrast, the demand aspect has gained less attention. In this paper, using Estonia as a case study in both perspectives – employers’ practices and graduates’ experiences – are combined to answer the question: how employers use information provided by tertiary education credentials in the recruitment process. Semi-structured interviews with the 15 biggest employers and focus groups consisting of 63 recent graduates comprise the base data of our study. The results reveal that it is useful to examine the mechanisms why education affects recruitment processes separately among service providers and goods producers as well as in different stages of recruitment (pre-selection, getting a job offer). In all sectors, the educational credentials were used in the pre-selection process as a screening device. However, in a job offer, service providers emphasised the role of credentials as signals of trainability while for goods producers credentials informed employers about their job-specific skills.

FALLING HIGH: STRUCTURE AND AGENCY IN AGRICULTURE DURING THE TRANSFORMATION

This article examines the interplay between changes on the macro level and the destinies and decisions of individuals who worked in agriculture at the beginning of the economic changes in Estonia in the 1990s. The agricultural sector was hit most radically by economic reforms. Our main conclusion is that individual agency was strongly determined by structural conditions. People working in the agricultural sector faced substantive obstacles in using their educational credentials in other employment sectors. Furthermore, in the agricultural sector in general higher education seems to be of little value.

Youth Labour Market in Central and Eastern Europe

Youth first footsteps at the labour market (LM) affect the further career and also relate to other life domains. The trajectories depend not only on the personal characteristic of the young person but also on the institutional settings, especially on educational system, labour market regulations, employment policies and overall economic climate. Therefore, the labour market transition sequences could take different paths in different countries.

Similarity and Difference in Conceptions of Well-Being Among Children and Young People in Four Contrasting European Countries

Despite substantial academic and policy interest in well-being there is no universally accepted definition of the concept. In the academic literature, it is used as an over-arching concept to refer to the quality of life of people in society. The purpose of this chapter is to present the findings of the MYWeB project regarding the conceptions of well-being among children and young people and the possible differences among them in four European countries (Portugal, Greece, Slovakia and Estonia). Based on qualitative research which makes the voice of children and young people heard, this chapter represents an important contribution to issues pertaining to the measurement of child well-being. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with children and young people addresses four questions: How do children and young people understand the concept of well-being? What do they attribute to well-being? Which are the main factors they consider important for their well-being? What are the similarities and differences among the four European countries? Having in mind that in order to organise and conduct a longitudinal survey on children and young people’s well-being the understanding of the concept of well-being is central, this chapter explores the different approaches and understandings of the concept and discuss the obstacles and problems that might arise in such a process.

Determinants of Retirement and Late Careers in Estonia

Estonia is an extremely fascinating case study for investigating the determinants of retirement. It has been shown to be one of the EU countries where the structure and size of the working age population are likely to be most problematic. Nevertheless, it is already now a forerunner in the employment rate among the elderly in Europe. The aim of this chapter is to analyze institutional conditions affecting employment and the move to retirement in Estonia during recent decades in order to shed light on the impact of individual characteristics on retirement and late careers. The growing inequality in late careers can be observed due to the limited support offered by the welfare regime and the decision to leave or to stay in employment seems more likely to be driven by structural factors than individual preferences in Estonia.

Flessibilità del mercato del lavoro e giovani in Estonia

L’articolo fornisce un quadro relativo all’ingresso nel mercato del lavoro da parte dei giovani in Estonia.: transizione scuola-lavoro, prima parte della carriera, formazione di una famiglia. Lo scritto compara le coorti di coloro che sono diventati adulti durante il periodo di stabilita sovietico (anni ’80), il turbolento periodo di transizione (anni ’90), e la fase di stabilizzaizone (anni 2000). La principale fonte di dati e l’Estonian Social Survey (2004). Coloro che hanno lasciato la scuola a partire dagli anni ’90, se confrontati a coloro che hanno vissuto questo passaggio durante gli anni ’80, hanno avuto maggiori opportunita di carriera ma anche hanno visto crescere l’instabilita del lavoro. Quest’ultima condizione si e riflessa anche nelle decisioni a proposito della formazione di una famiglia dal momento che negli anni ’80 la transizione all’eta adulta si concentrava in un breve intervallo di tempo, mentre per le coorti piu giovani sia l’ingresso nel mercato del lavoro, sia la formazione di una famiglia avvengono piu tardi.