International Journal of Business and Social Science
Vol. 2 No. 16; September 2011
GRADUATES’ CHARACTERISTICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: A STUDY AMONG
MALAYSIAN GRADUATES
Associate Professor Dr. Noor Azina Ismail
Department of Applied Statistics
Faculty of Economics and Administration
University of Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
E-mail: nazina@um.edu.my, Phone: +603 79673638
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of graduates’ characteristics on the chance of being employed. A total of 3,025 Malaysian graduates involved in the study and data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results show that the employment prospects of graduates with a good command of
English and who
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Public universities have grown from seven public universities in the 1990s to a total of 20 in 2007 (Ministry of Higher Education, 2007). A total of 18 private universities have also been established during the same period. At the same time, there are more than 500 other institutions, including university colleges, branch campuses of local and overseas institutions, open universities and other institutions with non-university status. Student enrolment had sky-rocketed. In 2002, the total number of students enrolled in higher institutions was 576,439 and enrolment had increased to 748,797 in 2007.
With the expansion of higher education, greater attention has to be paid to the labor market prospects since imbalances may be created between higher education and labor market demands (Kartz-Gerro & Yaish, 2003;
Teichler, 2000). Specifically, there have been concerns about the level of graduate unemployment, the transition from higher education to work and the problems of job mismatches (Kougioumoutzaki & Kalamatianou, 2008).
Although the unemployment rate in Malaysia is always low compared to the United States or European countries, there are great concerns for unemployment. This is due to the fact that currently, there is no unemployment insurance or assistance available in the country. Hence an increase in the unemployment rate may lead to an increased crime rate. In light of the above, this paper focuses on issues
In today’s society, a college degree has become a requirement in order to obtain a well occupied profession. Prior to the recession, which the study defines as the period between December 2007 and June 2009, bachelor's graduates were already more likely to be employed than were associate degree holders, who were more likely to be employed than those without any postsecondary degree. After the recession, employment of college graduates dropped 7 percent, while associate degree holders experienced an 11 percent drop, and employment of high school graduates fell 16 percent. The percent of people excluded from the workforce, meaning they were seeking work but couldn’t find it, rose 31 percent for college graduates, 37 percent for high school graduates, and 50 percent for associate degree graduates, though associate degree holders were still excluded at a lower rate than high school graduates (Tilsley, 2013).
First, college degree graduates have better opportunities in finding a high wage job. “Graduates enjoy increased
Even though the rise in the number of college graduates had positively impacted the American economy by leading to the growth of the pay gap, yet it’s still not enough. The reason is that the short number of college graduates is mainly due to the lack of
Because having a degree has become so common, employers now use it as a way to eliminate people who would not make good candidates for employment—even if a degree isn’t a totally accurate determinant of one’s talent or work skills. The mass availability of college education may actually “debase its intrinsic value” (Bankston, p. 338).
problem at hand is the rising rate of unemployment. This problem must be dealt with
As more and more students graduate, they begin to look for work; hoping for a job capable of paying off their debts and making their chosen degree worthwhile. In America, we are running into the problem of a lack of jobs, requiring a degree or not. From service-jobs to white-collar jobs, "...more than 14 million jobs are vulnerable to being outsources offshore." (Roberts).College graduates that are native to America are struggling to find work due to the outsourcing of jobs, in turn damaging our economy.
Although the future of higher education may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over unemployment. With the way the job force has changed due to the fall of the economy, we can no longer rely on our trade or jobs that were lucrative and provided enough income for our families in the past. As it has been proven at Evergreen State College, “despite the university’s reputation as a countercultural bastion, 82 percent of its graduates found full-time employment within a year, and 93 percent of those who applied got into graduate schools” (188). This idea alone proves the fact that one has a larger change of attaining a job, if one has a college education. The notion of having a better likelihood of obtaining a job, or broadening my options, puts my mind at ease about unemployment.
Educated employees are needed everywhere. They can work at any job position as they are required. People’s who have college degrees, don’t have to be worried about recessions and less chance to be fired than those who don’t have college degrees. If high earnings or many job openings are a priority, they need to learn which occupations have the best prospects. In “The More Education You Have, the Greater Your Career Options Will be” Olivia Crosby and Roger Moncarz say, “College-educated workers’ higher earnings and lower unemployment are good reasons to go to college, and these benefits are also evidence of the demand for college graduates. Higher earnings show that employers are willing to pay more to have college graduates work for them. And lower unemployment means college graduates are more likely to find a job when they want one.” As professional job requires educated employees, employers want to have the right person who meets the job requirements. Graduates don’t worry about a recession because they always are going to be wanted, but those who have local jobs might be worried because their jobs can be done by any person. If sick people need a doctor, they are looking for the right person not just anyone can help them get back their health. A broken car needs persons, who have knowledge on how to fix car, because of that, graduates have more opportunity to keep their
However, life has changed, globalization and feminism have had a huge impact on the work environment all around the world. Technology has also made many jobs easier, yet very, very similar. Because of these changes, unemployment has become an issue all around the globe. The government views the unemployment situation as an individual problem. From the government’s perspective, unemployment is due to the lack of training of the individual. However, because
When governments look at policies to reduce unemployment, they tend to look at the short term and then the long term. In the short term, they need to ensure there is sufficient demand and economic growth in the economy to help control cyclical unemployment. This is done by adopting
In the competitive world today, having a college degree might not benefit a student as much as before, thus opening up numerous questions concerning its necessity. Not only is the number of students desperately trying to enroll in college increasing, but the tuition shoots up as well. However, will college enrollment necessarily be enough to increase your chances of attaining job security? The answer is hotly debated amongst adults and students alike, which opens up the second option for students, that is, joining the work force. Although this option is generally shunned by the new generation, the tough economy and slow restoration makes it quite a desirable choice at the moment. Joining the work force is a hard decision to make as it
Employability has been defined as "the capability of getting and keeping satisfactory work". Graduate employers across all industries want more than just a degree; they want graduates who can demonstrate a wide range of skills, attributes and knowledge, often called ‘employability skills’. Graduate businesses over all ventures need something beyond a degree; they need graduates who can exhibit an extensive variety of abilities, properties and information, regularly called 'employability aptitudes'. (Hertsacuk, 2018)
In Robert E. Sullivan, Jr.’s “Greatly Reduced Expectations”, Sullivan discusses the lack of employment available to college graduates. Throughout the essay, testimonials are given by four college graduates who expected more opportunity when they graduated with a four year degree. I sympathize with these men and women who are working in jobs that do promote their ability.
At the same time students today face a higher chance of unemployment after graduation. This
Unemployment has always been something that Americans have worried about since the great depression in which one in every four people was unemployed. High unemployment has an impact on every one even those whom are still currently employed. For example if the unemployment rate is particular high then even those with jobs get worried. Unemployment is also separated in to distinct categories base on which group is the focus of the study. The categories can be by race, age or location, for example the unemployment rate of those between the age of sixty and sixty-five could be compared those between the ages of thirty and thirty-five. These categories allow economist to see which groups are the best and which groups are worst off. One group