Employable graduates in Russia (case of the Volgograd region)

Lisa Bydanova, Post-doctorate fellow,

IREDU (Research Institute for Economy and Sociology of Education), University of Burgundy, France

New labour market demands

Competencies : Required on the modern labour market Acquired through higher education

Russia: economy in transition

1990: Move from a planning economy to a free market one

1990 – 1998 : Economic crise

GDP : - 38 %; Employment rate : - 12 %

1999 - 2007: Economic revivalAverage annual GDP increase: 6 % (1999 – 2004)

Decrease in unemployment: from 7,059 thousands to 5,208 thousands (2000 – 2005)

Role of Human Capital for Economic Growth

“The productivity and growth of a country depend to a lower extent of its abundance of natural resources than of the capacity to improve the quality of human capital …” (D.Forray & P.A.David, 2002)

Russia: the most educated country in the world

Percentage share of people aged 25 – 64 with tertiary educational attainment in OECD countries (2001) and Russia (2002)

%

Russia 54.0

Maximum OECD 41.6

Median OECD 24.1

Minimum OECD 8.9

Source: UNDP, 2004. Calculated from “Education at glance. P.: OECD, 2003; Results of the 2002 National Census in Russia (www.gks.ru)

1990 – 2000: Democratisation of higher education

Russia: new challenges

To adapt higher education : to employers’ demands to the whole socio-economic context

Main changes on the graduate labour market : An abolition of the public system of job-assignment Changes in social values Mismatches between education and occupations

Survey among graduates: sampling design

REFLEX (Flexible Professional in the Knowledgeable Society) survey : 16 European countries + Japan, 40,000 graduates

Russia, Volgograd region, 1 public university, 300 graduates

Level ISCED 5A (« Bac +5 », Master’s Degree), 4 - 5 years after graduation

CompetenciesMastery of your own field or discipline,

Knowledge of other fields and disciplines,

Analytical thinking

Ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge,

Ability to negotiate effectively,

Ability to perform well under pressure,

Alertness to new opportunities,

Ability to coordinate activities,

Ability to use time effectively,

Ability to work productively with others,

Ability to mobilize the capacities of others,

Ability to assert your authority,

Ability to use computers and the internet,

Ability to come up with new ideas and solutions,

Willingness to question your own and other’s ideas,

Ability to present products, ideas or report to an audience,

Ability to write reports, memos and documents,

Ability to write and speak in a foreign language.

European survey:

“The Flexible Professional in the

Knowledge Society. New Demands on

Higher Education in Europe”

(“REFLEX”)

Demand for Flexibility

European research(« Careers of Higher Education Graduates (CHEERS) »

project, 1998; 11 countries of EU and Japan, 35,000 graduates)

Demand for a “Flexible Professional” with 4 areas of competence: Professional expertise; Functional flexibility; Innovation and knowledge management; Mobilisation of human resources.

Competencies required on the labour market

KS - mastery of your own field or discipline,

GK - knowledge of other fields and disciplines,

ATH - analytical thinking

ANK - ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge,

N - ability to negotiate effectively,

ST - ability to perform well under pressure,

NP - alertness to new opportunities,

M - ability to coordinate activities,

MT - ability to use time effectively,

WG - ability to work productively with others,

MO - ability to mobilize the capacities of others,

A - ability to assert your authority,

EY – ability to make your meaning clear to others,

IL - ability to use computers and the internet,

NI - ability to come up with new ideas and solutions,

QI - willingness to question your own and other’s ideas,

PP - ability to present products, ideas or report to an audience,

WR - ability to write reports, memos and documents,

FL - ability to write and speak in a foreign language.

KSGK

ATHANK

NST

NPM

MTWG

MOEYAIL

NIQI

PPWR

FL

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

KS

ATH

N

NP

MT

MO

A

NI

PP

FL

Competencies required in current employment (graduates’ assessment)

Scale: 1 (not important) - 7 (very important) , N = 300

ksgk

athank

nst

npm

mtwg

moey

ailni

qipp

wrfl

0,00 1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00 6,00

ks

ath

n

np

mt

mo

a

ni

pp

fl

ksgk

athank

nst

npm

mtwg

moey

ail

niqi

ppwr

fl

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

ks

ath

n

np

mt

mo

a

ni

pp

fl

ksgk

athank

nst

npm

mtwg

moey

ail

niqi

ppwr

fl

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

ks

ath

n

np

mt

mo

a

ni

pp

fl

Competencies required in current employment (France), N= 1,429

Competencies required in current employment (Germany), N= 1,650

Competencies required in current employment (European sampling), N = 25,500

Role of non-cognitive competencies

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Cognitive competencies Non-cognitive competencies

Non-cognitive competencies are of high importance for professional success (Bowles, Gintis et Osborne, 2001, Heckman, Stixrud & Urzua, 2006, Postleweite

& Silverman, 2006, Suleman et Paul, 2006, Blanden, Gregg, Macmillan, 2006)

Monetary returns to job tasks flexibility

Model 1 Model 2

Bêta Sign. Bêta Sign. (constante) ,000 ,000

Category 1 (reference category): Work in exclusively own field

Category 2: Work in own field, close field, other field

,202 ,001

Category 3: Work in a close field -,019 ,766

Category 4: Work in a close field or in other field

,148 ,011

Category 5: Work in other field -,034 ,526

Category 6: No special qualification is required for my job

,009 ,878

Control variables :

Sex (Male) ,247 ,000 ,268 ,000 Working in Moscow ,162 ,003 ,151 ,007 Working in private sector ,279 ,000 ,306 ,000

Adj R-Sq = 0.27 Adj R-Sq = 0.22

Role of higher education in developping the required competencies

Rating of competencies developed at highest and lowest extent during higher education studies

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s

competencies developed at high extent

competencies developed at low extent

a) Knowledge in field, b) knowledge in other fields, c) analytical thinking d) acquire new knowledge, e) negotiate effectively, f) resistance to stress, g) alertness to new opportunities, h) manage, i) use time effectively, j) work in group, k) mobilize the capacities of others, l) express own indeas, m) assert your authority, n ) use computers and the Internet, o) ability to come up with new ideas, p) willingness to question ideas, q) report to an audience, r) ability to write reports, s) foreign language proficiency.

Legend: x – competencies; y - % of graduates who ranked a given competence as highly developed through university studies

Conclusions

Knowledge in field is far from being the only and the most demanded competence on the labour market.

Other important competencies are : analytical thinking, ability to perform well under

pressure, ability to use time effectively, ability to communicate effectively, ability to assert your authority, computer and Internet literacy

ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge (flexibility)

University performs well its principal task (provide a deep knowledge in a particular field), but it does not contribute to developing of other essential competencies

Competencies required in current employment by occupational groups

Competencies required from graduates working as "Managers"

KSGK

ATHANK

NST

NPM

MTWGMO

EYA

ILNI

QIPP

WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

AN

NP

WG

A

QI

FL

Competencies required from graduates working as "Experts"

KSGK

ATHANKN

STNPM

MTWGMO

EYAIL

NIQIPP

WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Competencies required from graduates working as "Administrative

and technical staff"

KSGK ATHANKNSTNPMMTWGMOEYAILNIQIPP WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Competencies required from graduates working in "Other"

occupations

KS GKATHANKN STNPM MTWGMO EYA

ILNIQI PP WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Scale : 1 (very low) – 7 (very high)