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Article
Publication date: 2 August 2011

Tracy Scurry and John Blenkinsopp

The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic review of the literature that explores under‐employment among recent graduates. Literature from a range of disciplines is…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic review of the literature that explores under‐employment among recent graduates. Literature from a range of disciplines is reviewed in an attempt to further a theoretical understanding. In doing this, the secondary aim is to identify avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a systematic literature review methodology to answer the question “What is graduate underemployment?”

Findings

The review highlights significant issues around the conceptualisation and measurement of graduate under‐employment. It argues that individual volition and meaning making are important issues that to date remain under‐researched in relation to graduate under‐employment. The paper argues that the most appropriate basis for developing a theoretical understanding of graduate under‐employment is to draw upon relevant theoretical frameworks from career studies – specifically those on the objective‐subjective duality of career, career indecision, and career success. This approach provides a greater focus on the dynamics of the individual's experiences.

Practical implications

This review has implications for a range of stakeholders including students, graduates, teachers and careers advisers, parents, universities, employers, HR professionals and policy makers.

Originality/value

In the context of policy debates surrounding the purpose and value of higher education, this review brings together the highly fragmented perspectives on a phenomenon that encapsulates many of the issues being debated.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1987

Jan E. Mutchler

Family status is often regarded as an important factor determining female labor force participation as well as outcomes of that participation such as wages and occupational…

Abstract

Family status is often regarded as an important factor determining female labor force participation as well as outcomes of that participation such as wages and occupational standing. Indeed, employment status can be expected to have implications for the work patterns of both men and women, through timing or scheduling conflicts, and other constraints related to the roles of parent and spouse. In this article the relationship between underemployment and family status is examined in a multivariate framework. Underemployment is measured here as a combination of unemployment, involuntary part‐time work, overeducation, and low wages, using data from the 1972 and 1982 March Current Population Survey. The findings suggest that family status is important for both men and women, although the most salient role for men is that of spouse, while for women the parental role has the strongest effect. Both men and women experience negative work outcomes related to single parenthood.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 October 2021

Adeola Samuel Adebusuyi and Olubusayo Foluso Adebusuyi

The purpose of this study is to investigate how degree-holding secondary school teachers cope in a recessive economy by embracing hybrid entrepreneurship (HE). Specifically, we…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how degree-holding secondary school teachers cope in a recessive economy by embracing hybrid entrepreneurship (HE). Specifically, we investigated how comparison with referent others, underemployment and relative deprivation led to HE.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. We used snowball and purposive sampling techniques to recruit 303 bachelor’s degree holders teaching in Nigerian public secondary schools in two states of the federation (Ondo and Ekiti states). We analyzed the data with regression path analysis and controlled for age and gender.

Findings

The results of this study showed the following. First, teachers were high in the feeling of pay underemployment and relative deprivation. Second, pay underemployment and relative deprivation directly led to HE. Third, teachers were indirectly high in HE through either pay underemployment or relative deprivation. Finally, underemployment and relative deprivation serially mediate the relationship between referent others and HE.

Research limitations/implications

Overall, the results suggest that teachers’ involvement in HE is necessity-driven to cope with the recessive Nigerian economy. However, future research should focus on a more experimental approach to determine the cause-effect relationship.

Originality/value

This is the first study to investigate how workers embrace HE to cope with the consequences of a recessive economy.

Details

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-0705

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 July 2021

Denise Jackson and Ian Li

There are ongoing concerns regarding university degree credentials leading to graduate-level employment. Tracking graduate underemployment is complicated by inconsistent measures…

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Abstract

Purpose

There are ongoing concerns regarding university degree credentials leading to graduate-level employment. Tracking graduate underemployment is complicated by inconsistent measures and tendencies to report on outcomes soon after graduation. Our study explored transition into graduate-level work beyond the short-term, examining how determining factors change over time.

Design/methodology/approach

We considered time-based underemployment (graduates are working less hours than desired) and overqualification (skills in employment not matching education level/type) perspectives. We used a national data set for 41,671 graduates of Australian universities in 2016 and 2017, surveyed at four months and three years' post-graduation, to explore determining factors in the short and medium-term. Descriptive statistical techniques and binary logistic regression were used to address our research aims.

Findings

Graduates' medium-term employment states were generally positive with reduced unemployment and increased full-time job attainment. Importantly, most graduates that were initially underemployed transited to full-time work at three years post-graduation. However, around one-fifth of graduates were overqualified in the medium-term. While there was some evidence of the initially qualified transitioning to matched employment, supporting career mobility theory, over one-third remaining overqualified. Skills, personal characteristics and degree-related factors each influenced initial overqualification, while discipline was more important in the medium-term.

Originality/value

Our study explores both time-based underemployment and overqualification, and over time, builds on earlier work. Given the longer-term, negative effects of mismatch on graduates' career and wellbeing, findings highlight the need for career learning strategies to manage underemployment and consideration of future labour market policy for tertiary graduates.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 43 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Michaeline Skiba and Patrick O'Halloran

Taking a broad review of the management and economics literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the recent “Great Recession” has had a disproportionate adverse…

Abstract

Purpose

Taking a broad review of the management and economics literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the recent “Great Recession” has had a disproportionate adverse impact on US labor markets and created social disruptions to professional workers experiencing persistent unemployment or underemployment.

Design/methodology/approach

Secondary data analysis shows how the recent recession has had a disproportionate impact on employment. Recognizing underemployment as a potentially persistent state, the authors delineate the extent and consequences of underemployment.

Findings

Analyses of unemployment and underemployment resulting from the recent recession suggest it has had a particularly severe detrimental impact on worker benefits, incomes and employment prospects for most US workers.

Research limitations/implications

Secondary data analysis is a major limitation but results justify a call for further research into the potential increase in the long‐term economic displacement of professional workers.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in applying economic and management constructs in an analysis of the origins, consequences and recommendations for decreasing the rising level of underemployment among professional US workers.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2015

William Baah-Boateng

The purpose of this paper is to establish the concept of unemployment defined by the International Labour Organisation appears to be too narrow within the context of many African…

2968

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to establish the concept of unemployment defined by the International Labour Organisation appears to be too narrow within the context of many African countries including Ghana. This phenomenon tends to put many jobless adults into the discouraged worker category thereby giving a misleading picture about the unemployment situation in these countries. In addition, the structure of the labour market in many African countries is such that informality takes the face of unemployment.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a scatter plot and simple correlation analysis to show a trade-off between informality or vulnerability of employment and unemployment rates in Africa. The paper also adopts descriptive approach based on simple diagrams to show the extent of discouraged worker effect on the phenomenon of unemployment.

Findings

The paper finds a significantly negative correlation between unemployment and informality in Africa. Beside the high level of informality that hides the face of unemployment, the exclusion of many discouraged workers in estimating unemployment underrates the seriousness of the phenomenon. The paper therefore recommends the adoption of a broader definition of unemployment that accounts for discourage workers and underemployment to show the true picture of labour market challenge in Africa. Additionally, targeted programmes to support and transform the informal sector is required to make it a more attractive means of employment rather than being seen as a refuge point for the unemployed in Africa.

Originality/value

The observation that unemployment should be looked at from a broader perspective that accounts for discourage workers to inform policy design forms a base of the paper’s contribution to the body of literature. In addition, the high level of informality that hides the problem of unemployment shows that labour market challenges should not be restricted to unemployment but low quality of employment that characterises informality as well.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

Belgin Okay-Somerville and Dora Scholarios

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and role of career boundaries for enabling/constraining career self-management (CSM) for occupational boundary-crossing in the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and role of career boundaries for enabling/constraining career self-management (CSM) for occupational boundary-crossing in the UK graduate labour market (GLM).

Design/methodology/approach

The data are provided by career history interviews with 36 UK graduates. The analysis contrasts transitions for those who started careers in low-, intermediate-, and high-skilled segments of the labour market.

Findings

Availability of development and progression opportunities were the most prominent career boundary experienced. Ease of boundary-crossing differed by career stage and educational background. Boundaries enabled CSM by acting as psychological/external push factors, but push factors only aided progression to high-skilled segments for a third of graduates who started careers in underemployment. For the rest, an adaptation of expectations to labour market realities was observed.

Research limitations/implications

Although career history interviews limit generalisability, they contextualise boundaries and deepen understanding of career actors’ subjective experiences and responses.

Practical implications

The study highlights the role of labour market and demand-side constraints for career transitions as well as proactive career behaviours. This has implications for career counsellors, employers, and individuals.

Originality/value

This paper provides a distinctive “boundary-focused” analysis of emerging career boundaries in the GLM. The findings point to the intricate interplay between structure and agency for career development.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1987

Teresa Donati Marciano

This article focuses on a group of women attorneys launched on careers that are interrupted for shorter or longer periods by the birth of children. Small samples are used for…

Abstract

This article focuses on a group of women attorneys launched on careers that are interrupted for shorter or longer periods by the birth of children. Small samples are used for illustration but studied in depth they provide a micro‐level view of employment patterns that are reported in aggregate statistics or the macro level. This article adds gender to the matrix of employment patterns and professional careers. Voluntary underemployment, negotiated for women attorneys, may be a strategy to cope with high demands and limited structural accommodations to those demands.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2013

Cristina Rubino, Sabrina D. Volpone and Derek R. Avery

The aim of this paper is to draw on gender role theory and the stressor‐strain literature to examine sex differences in emotional exhaustion. The paper also investigates a…

1704

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to draw on gender role theory and the stressor‐strain literature to examine sex differences in emotional exhaustion. The paper also investigates a mediating mechanism (i.e. work‐family conflict) and a boundary condition (i.e. ratio between actual and desired work hours, termed overemployment/underemployment) of the sex – emotional exhaustion relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 3,114 respondents, the paper analyzes the hypothesized moderated mediation model using Edwards and Lambert's framework.

Findings

The paper found support for the authors' model, suggesting that overemployed women are more likely to experience work‐family conflict and emotional exhaustion than men. However, when individuals work fewer hours than desired, men are more susceptible to emotional exhaustion than women by first experiencing work‐family conflict.

Research limitations/implications

Although support exists for the relationship between work‐family conflict and burnout, stressor/strain models also should include sex and overemployment/underemployment as predictors of emotional exhaustion.

Practical implications

These results suggest organizations can reduce employee work‐family conflict and subsequent emotional exhaustion by adjusting the ratio of currently worked to desired work hours. Additionally, organizations can minimize emotional exhaustion by implementing work‐family balance workplace policies.

Originality/value

To address inconsistencies in studies exploring the sex‐emotional exhaustion relationship, the paper explores a mediating mechanism and boundary condition underlying the relationship between sex and emotional exhaustion. Exploring this relationship is important for organizations and employees, as both benefit by minimizing emotional exhaustion to avoid the physical and psychological consequences with which it is associated.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2007

Philip Young P. Hong and Shanta Pandey

The purpose of this study is to examine the individualistic and the structural nature of human capital and its relationship with poverty.

2008

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the individualistic and the structural nature of human capital and its relationship with poverty.

Design/methodology/approach

An examination was made of the individual and the interaction effects of three dimensions of human capital (education, training, and health), gender, race, and underemployment on poverty status, after controlling for the direct effect of these variables. The sample included working‐age individuals in the USA taken from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).

Findings

The results show that among the human capital variables, postsecondary education is a particularly important factor associated with poverty among women and minorities. Job training, on the other hand, worsened the economic situation for non‐Whites. For individuals with less than post‐secondary education, the combined effect of training participation and health status significantly reduced the likelihood of being poor. Underemployment consistently moderated the effects of human capital, gender, and race on poverty status. Interestingly, underemployed women were less likely to be poor compared to those with more secure jobs. Women with training were more likely to be poor when they were underemployed compared to being in good jobs. This same relationship held true for minority groups with training having greater likelihood of being poor when they were underemployed.

Originality/value

This study provides an empirical validation of human capital as the structurally vulnerable attributes that are disproportionately distributed in the labor market for many American poor.

Details

Equal Opportunities International, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0261-0159

Keywords

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