Too Much, Too Soon? Polytechnic Graduate Placement in Finnish Manufacturing

Abstract

This paper investigates polytechnic graduate placement in Finnish manufacturing. The paper uses a register-based data source covering white-collar manufacturing workers over the period 1995-2004. The results reveal that graduates from polytechnics have placed quite well in terms of salaries and job quality in comparision with workers with corresponding vocational degrees after the relevant covariates have been taken into account. Despite this, almost 20% of graduates from polytechnics have been forced to take a position in manufacturing in which they can be considered to be 'overeducated'. Interestingly, not all degrees from polytechnics are equal. Bachelors of Business Administration are not as well placed as Bachelors of Engineering in terms of job quality in manufacturing.

Keywords: Education, polytechnic, placement

JEL Classification: A23, I21