printWork-Related Learning Practices of University Graduates:
Scope and Determinants
Varshavskaya E.Ya.
Dr. Sci. (Econ.), Prof., Department of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management, Graduate School of Business, HSE University, Moscow, Russia evarshavskaya@hse.ru
The paper was prepared in the framework of a research grant funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant ID: 075-15-2022-325).
Varshavskaya E.Ya. Work-Related Learning Practices of University Graduates: Scope and Determinants. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2023. No 4. P. 94-105
The article analyzes the scale of work-related learning of recent higher education graduates, describes its main practices, determines the factors of participation in training. The empirical analysis is carried out on data from the federal survey of Russian university graduates who completed their studies in 2016–2020. The sample consists of 9325 graduates. About a quarter of recent graduates participated in job-related training in their first year of work. The probability of work-related learning is higher for full-time graduates and for those who are employed as a specialist. It does not depend on whether the graduate works in his specialty or not. Important predictors of participation in work-related learning are the lack of professional skills and the importance of personal (individual) characteristics for successful work. The results showed that work-related learning acts as a tool to overcome the gap between the knowledge and skills that graduates have and the knowledge and skills necessary for the employer, mainly professional content. It was found that participation in work-related training practices is differentiated by qualification groups and by the scarcity of different types of knowledge and skills. On the one hand, formal learning and, on the other, mentoring and self-learning are interchangeable practices. Mentoring and self-learning are in many ways complementary practices of job-related training.
Armstrong-Stassen M., Schlosser F. (2008) Benefits of a supportive development climate for older workers. Journal of Managerial Psychology. Vol. 23. No. 4: 419–437.
Baert S., Cockx B., Verhaest D. (2013) Overeducation at the start of the career: stepping stone or trap? Labour Economics. Vol. 25: 123–140.
Bell D.N.F., Blanchflower D.G. (2011) Youth unemployment in Europe and the United States. Nordic Economic Policy Review. Vol. 1: 11–37.
Burdyak A., Polivin O. (2009) Duration of the search for the first job by the Russian graduates during the transition period. In: Zaharov S., Maleva T., Sinyavskaya O. (eds) Parents and Children, Men and Women in Family and Society. Moscow: NISP: 265–290. (In Russ.)
Carroll D., Tani M. (2013) Over-education of recent higher education graduates: New Australian panel evidence. Economics of Education Review. Vol. 32: 207–218.
Chao G.T. (2014) Unstructured training and development: The role of organizational socialization. In: Ford J. et al. (eds) Improving training effectiveness in work organizations. New York: Psychology Press: 141–164.
Cherednichenko G. (2018) Employment after universities on the materials of the Russian Statistics Committee Survey. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 8: 91–101. (In Russ.)
Cherednichenko G. (2020) Graduates of Russian universities in the labor market (data from a Survey by Rosstat). Sociologicheskaya nauka i social’naja praktika [Sociological science and social practice]. No. 3: 108–124. (In Russ.)
Emelina N., Rozhkova K., Roshchin S. et al. (2022) Higher education graduates in the Russian labor market: trends and challenges. Moscow: NIU VSHE. (In Russ.)
Kiryushina M., Rudakov V. (2021) The gender gap in early-career wages of universities’ and vocational education institutes’ graduates. Voprosy Obrazovaniya [Educational Studies]. No. 2: 172–198. (In Russ.)
Kolosova A., Rudakov V., Roshchin S. (2020) The impact of job-education match on graduate salaries and job satisfaction. Voprosy Ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. No. 11: 113–132. (In Russ.)
Kowtha N.R. (2011) School-to-work transition and newcomer socialisation: The role of job-related education. Journal of Management & Organization. Vol. 17. No. 6: 747–763.
Kyndt E., Baert H. (2013) Antecedents of employees’ involvement in work-related learning: A systematic review. Review of Educational research. Vol. 83. No. 2: 273–313.
Malcolm J., Hodkinson P., Colley H. (2003) The interrelationships between informal and formal learning. Journal of workplace learning. Vol. 15: 313–318.
Meroni E.C., Vera-Toscano E. (2017) The persistence of overeducation among recent graduates. Labour Economics. Vol. 48: 120–143.
Möller J., Umkehrer M. (2015) Are there long-term earnings scars from youth unemployment in Germany? Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik. Vol. 235. No. 4–5: 474–498.
Oh S. (2016) The effects of workplace learning on organizational socialization in the youth workforce. Asia Pacific Education Review. Vol. 17. No. 4: 567–580.
Roshchin S. (2006) The school-to-work-transition: a slough or a ford? Working Paper WP3/2006/10. Moscow: NIU VSHE. (In Russ.)
Roshchin S., Rudakov V. (2016) The impact of university quality on wages of Russian university graduates. Voprosy Ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. No. 8: 74–95. (In Russ.)
Rudakov V., Chirikov I., Roshchin S., Drozhzhina D. (2017). The impact of academic achievement on starting wages of Russian university graduates. Voprosy Ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. No. 3: 77–102. (In Russ.)
Sanders J., Oomens S., Blonk R.W.B. et al. (2011). Explaining lower-educated workers’ training intentions. Journal of Workplace Learning. Vol. 23. No. 6: 402–416.
Schmillen A., Umkehrer M. (2017) The scars of youth: Effects of early-career unemployment on future unemployment experience. International Labour Review. Vol. 156. No. 3–4: 465–494.
Sharunina A., Travkin P., Chernina E. (2020) Youth at the “Entrance Gate” to the labor market. In: Gimpelson V., Kapelyushnikov R. (eds) The Russian labor market through the prism of demography. Moscow: NIU VSHE: 204–244. (In Russ.)
Smet K., Grosemans I., De Cuyper N. et al. (2022) Outcomes of informal work-related learning behaviours: A systematic literature review. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. Vol. 7 (1). No. 2: 1–18.
Varshavskaya E. (2016) The success of the study-work transition: for whom is the road easier? Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 2: 39–46. (In Russ.)
Zubok Yu., Chuprov V. (2015) Young specialists: the problem of training and the situation in the labor market. Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 5: 114–122. (In Russ.)