Russian employees with higher education: analysis of areas of study

Abstract

The paper is aimed at analyzing the structure and socio-demographic characteristics of workers with higher education, graduated from high schools in various fields of education, and estimating the mismatch between the individual's field of education and his / her occupation (education-occupation mismatch).The research base is constituted by Labor Force Survey for 2014. The research results show that the structure of the workers by the fields of education differentiates depending on gender, age and settlement. The share of graduates of economic and legal professions is significantly higher and the proportion of people with higher technical and teacher education is lower among young workers than among older. Differences in the occupational structure of higher education specialties, young and older workers make demands on different jobs and do not directly compete in the labor market. Russian labor market is characterized by a significant education-occupation mismatch. Almost thirty percent of workers report that their job is only partially related or not related at all to their field of study. The extent of mismatch varies across college major. Medical high-skilled professionals have minimal likelihood of mismatch. Graduates from Agricultural sciences have maximal likelihood of mismatch. Men are mismatched to a larger extent than women in some female-dominated fields of education (Education, Economy and Management) whereas women are mismatched to a larger extent than men in some male-dominated fields of education (Engineering and Engineering-related technologies).