The school-to-work transition of Canadian post-secondary graduates: A dynamic analysis

by Ross Finnie (Department of Economics, Queen's University)
Business and Labour Market Analysis
Journal of Higher Education, Policy and Management,
Volume 26 no. 1, March 2004

Context

raduating from college or university and moving into the labour force is an important transition at both the individual and social levels, as graduates begin to put their training into practice and thus build their labour market careers, while at the same time comprising an important element of the nation's economic performance both today and into the future.

Objectives

To report the results of an empirical analysis of the early post-secondary experiences of several recent 'generations' of Canadian post-secondary graduates.

Findings

There was an increase in the number of post-secondary graduates and a shift in their composition towards university rather than college graduates.

Women constituted the majority of graduates at the college and bachelor's levels in all cohorts.

Many graduates obtained additional diplomas in the years following graduation and prevailing labour market conditions appear to play a significant role in this dynamic.

The job-education match scores are quite high, especially at the Masters and Phd levels suggesting that contrary to common belief, the quality of graduates' jobs has not been declining.

Job satisfaction scores are higher at the more advanced degrees.

Graduates generally express high levels of overall satisfaction with their educational choices.

Data source: National Graduate Survey, 1982, 1986 and 1990.