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The relationship between higher education and labour market in Greece: the weakest link?

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Abstract

The high level of graduate unemployment, even though it is acknowledged as one of the most distinctive characteristics of the Greek labour market, it has not attracted enough attention in the academic literature. This paper utilizes micro-data from the Labour Force Survey in order to investigate how the employment situation of young (aged 35 and below) graduates varies across fields of study. The findings suggest that graduates of disciplines that have high levels of private sector employment, such as Polytechnics and Computer Science, are in general better off in the Greek labour market. On the other hand, graduates of disciplines that are traditionally related to the needs of the public sector, such as Social and manities, face poor employment prospects. The findings of this study highlight the need for drastic reforms of the Higher Education system.

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Notes

  1. These, were the prime minister’s first statements in Zapion Megaron, 7/3/2004.

  2. NET Radio 8/1/2004.

  3. For the developments in the Greek educational system see Kanellopoulos (1996).

  4. Minutes of the Greek parliament, ΙΑ′, Γ′, Λ′, Friday 24th November 2006.

  5. The micro-data from the Greek Labour Force Survey have only recently been made available to researchers. This study benefits greatly from this development as it allows examination of a relatively under-researched area.

  6. At the time of the study, 2004 was the most recent available wave of the Greek LFS. The use of more recent waves might alter the magnitude of the coefficients but would not affect the overall conclusions.

  7. The fact that for the former group the rate of unemployment for PhDs is about 14% while the overall rate is about 3.5% can be explained by the relatively low proportion of young people who hold a PhD degree.

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  1. Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Ilias Livanos

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Livanos, I. The relationship between higher education and labour market in Greece: the weakest link?. High Educ 60, 473–489 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9310-1

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