Mismatching College Degrees and Careers

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Research Questions and Objectives
Literature Review
Methodology and Anticipated Results
Reference List

Introduction

In spite of the fact that people focus much attention on gaining their academic degrees, they often choose careers that are not related to their qualification or field of knowledge. Indeed, in the United Kingdom, 30% of college graduates were inclined to view themselves as mismatched to their job positions according to a study in 2015 (Steed 2018; Universities UK 2015). Thus, many people often seem to be working in areas that differ significantly from spheres associated with their major, qualification, or degree.

This situation is associated with the problems of skill shortages in some fields, or oversupply in others, both leading to economic unbalances (Cappelli 2015; Liu, Salvanes & Sørensen 2016; Polachek et al. 2017). Furthermore, some employees can occupy certain positions without actually being the best qualified for them.

The key causes of this phenomenon vary quite considerably. They include the difference between the supply and demand for certain job positions and qualifications, unemployment rates, the level of development of certain industries, inappropriate student orientation at college, and young people’s uncertainty regarding their career choice (Abel & Deitz 2015; Figueiredo et al. 2017; Rowland, Ruth & Ekot 2017). However, it is useful to discuss this problem from the perspective of human resources management (HRM) employee orientation, training, and development applied in companies. Focusing on the idea of skills utilisation, it is important to understand how human resources managers can use the situation of mismatching majors or degrees and careers in their employees to influence orientation and training.

Research Questions and Objectives

The following research questions should be formulated for this study:

RQ1: Why do graduates often work in fields and industries different from the areas they studied at college?
RQ2: Why do graduates choose not to develop their career in the field related to their major and/or degree?
RQ3: How can HR managers adapt employee orientation, training, and development practices to the situation of mismatching college specialisations and positions in relation to their employees?
RQ4: How can employee orientation contribute to addressing and matching individuals’ and companies’ needs?

The objectives set out for this research are to discuss the reasons for graduates’ working in fields and industries that differ from areas they studied at college and to examine graduates’ reasons not to develop their career in fields related to their majors. It is also necessary to study how HR managers can adapt their practices to the situation of mismatching college degrees and positions and how employee orientation can contribute to addressing employees’ and companies’ needs.

Literature Review

Graduates often choose not to work in the field associated with their major because they are not sure that they have made the right career choice. Another reason is connected with the inability to find an appropriate position in the industry. Other reasons that influence an individual’s decision relate to the specifics of the employment market (Nunley et al. 2016; Vinichenko et al. 2016). Still, researchers note that knowledge and skills developed in a certain field can be effectively used in adjacent areas, and the task of HR managers is to recognise these skills and seek to develop them in the context of the organisation (Grant, Maxwell & Ogden 2014; Netto et al. 2015; Zhu 2014). Thus, much more attention should be paid to employee orientation and training and development practices used by HR managers to work with their employees.

The idea of skills utilisation is actively discussed in the literature on HRM. Researchers and practitioners are interested in finding out what HRM practices can be used in order to contribute to effective skills utilisation in organisations (Boccuzzo, Fabbris & Paccagnella 2016; Lee 2015; Srimannarayana 2016; Støren & Arnesen 2016). From this perspective, skills utilisation can be viewed as the degree to which employees’ abilities and competencies are successfully applied in organisational settings (Keep 2014; Keep 2017a; Keep 2017b; Kucel et al. 2016; Okay-Somerville & Scholarios 2018). If an employee is not qualified for a certain position, his or her skills cannot be used to their full extent, and HR managers need to pay attention to this fact.

The numbers of college graduates who choose jobs that are not related to their majors or degrees increases every year. As such, their potential contribution to companies’ development is not high, and their earnings are lower in comparison to other employees’ wages (Lee & Sabharwal 2016). They have no opportunity to efficiently apply their knowledge, and they lack the skills required for certain positions (Bondarouk & Brewster 2016; Nunley et al. 2017).

However, other researchers state that by choosing another career, college graduates can receive more opportunities and resources to develop their professional potential if they inappropriately selected their educational path (Prieto-Pastor & Martin-Perez 2015; Veth et al. 2017). From this perspective, it is important to understand what factors can influence individuals’ choice of job positions and career paths after graduation.

The review of literature on the topic indicates that researchers have concentrated on discussing the phenomenon of developing a career after graduation from college. However, there is a gap in the scholarly literature on the topic that is related to the lack of research on what additional reasons for choosing careers can be determined by individuals, as well as how HR managers can react to the situation, with the focus on such HRM practices as employee orientation, training, and development. This study will contribute to determining how the application of certain HRM practices and approaches can be linked to the problem of selecting alterative career paths by college graduates.

Methodology and Anticipated Results

To address the research questions and objectives of this study, it is appropriate to apply a qualitative methodology. Based on an interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative methodology permits examining the details regarding certain phenomena and situations, and addresses “why” and “how” questions. Six participants will be invited to the study with the help of the non-probability purposive sampling approach (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill 2016).

These participants will be selected depending on their appropriateness for the study, for example developing careers in different fields, other than their specialisation, and experience in HRM, including employee orientation, training and development, and performance management. The data collection method chosen for the research is a semi-structured interview (Cohen, Manion & Morrison 2018). This methodology choice is the most appropriate for collecting qualitative data in this study.

The participants’ answers will be analysed using coding and thematic analysis techniques. It is expected to determine that both external and internal factors influence graduates’ choice of careers in different fields without focusing on their major or degree (Collis & Hussey 2014). Furthermore, it is expected that HR managers can effectively use employee orientation and training and development practices in order to help individuals apply their knowledge and develop their skills in any position they take.

Reference List

Abel, JR & Deitz, R 2015, ‘Agglomeration and job matching among college graduates’, Regional Science and Urban Economics, vol. 51, pp. 14-24.

Boccuzzo, G, Fabbris, L & Paccagnella, O 2016, ‘Job-major match and job satisfaction in Italy’, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 135-156.

Bondarouk, T & Brewster, C 2016, ‘Conceptualising the future of HRM and technology research’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 27, no. 21, pp. 2652-2671.

Cappelli, PH 2015, ‘Skill gaps, skill shortages, and skill mismatches: evidence and arguments for the United States’, ILR Review, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 251-290.

Cohen, L, Manion, L & Morrison, K 2018, Research methods in education, 8th edn, Routledge, London.

Collis, J & Hussey, R 2014, Business research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students, Macmillan International Higher Education, London.

Figueiredo, H, Biscaia, R, Rocha, V & Teixeira, P 2017, ‘Should we start worrying? Mass higher education, skill demand and the increasingly complex landscape of young graduates’ employment’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 42, no. 8, pp. 1401-1420.

Grant, K, Maxwell, G & Ogden, S 2014, ‘Skills utilisation in Scotland: exploring the views of managers and employees’, Employee Relations, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 458-479.

Keep, E 2014, ‘The role of higher education within broader skills policies, a comparison of emerging Scottish and English approaches’, Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 249-266.

Keep, E 2017a, ‘English exceptionalism re-visited: divergent skill strategies across England and Scotland’, Journal of Education and Work, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 741-749.

Keep, E 2017b, ‘Policy models, policy assumptions and lifelong learning–reflections on the UK experience’, Future of Work, Future of Learning, vol. 1, pp. 156-159.

Kucel, A, Róbert, P, Buil, M & Masferrer, N 2016, ‘Entrepreneurial skills and education‐job matching of higher education graduates’, European Journal of Education, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 73-89.

Lee, GJ 2015, ‘Training match and mismatch as a driver of key employee behaviours’, Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 478-495.

Lee, YJ & Sabharwal, M 2016, ‘Education–job match, salary, and job satisfaction across the public, non-profit, and for-profit sectors: survey of recent college graduates’, Public Management Review, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 40-64.

Liu, K, Salvanes, KG & Sørensen, EØ 2016, ‘Good skills in bad times: cyclical skill mismatch and the long-term effects of graduating in a recession’, European Economic Review, vol. 84, pp. 3-17.

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Nunley, JM, Pugh, A, Romero, N & Seals, RA 2017, ‘The effects of unemployment and underemployment on employment opportunities: results from a correspondence audit of the labor market for college graduates’, ILR Review, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 642-669.

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Polachek, SW, Pouliakas, K, Tatsiramos, K & Russo, G (eds.) 2017, Skill mismatch in labor markets, Emerald Group Publishing, London.

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Rowland, W, Ruth, M & Ekot, AC 2017, ‘Effect of employee orientation in creating satisfaction with work’, The Business & Management Review, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 219-227.

Saunders, M, Lewis, P & Thornhill, A 2016, Research methods for business students, 7th edn, Pearson, London.

Srimannarayana, M 2016, ‘Designing new employee orientation programs: an empirical study’, The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 620-632.

Steed, S 2018, ‘Too many graduates are mismatched to their jobs. What’s going wrong?’, The Guardian. Web.

Støren, LA & Arnesen, CÅ 2016, ‘Skills utilisation at work, the quality of the study programme and fields of study’, Quality in HigHer Education, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 127-138.

Universities UK 2015, Supply and demand for higher-level skills. Web.

Veth, KN, Korzilius, HP, Van der Heijden, B, Emans, B & De Lange, AH 2017, ‘Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 2, pp. 1-32.

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