Is it worth for bachelor graduates to diversify study programme for master level

Bibliographic Data

ID21591198
AuthorsGábor Balogh (0000-0002-4565-6850, University of Pecs), Norbert Sipos (0000-0001-8815-0027, University of Pecs)
Year2020
Volume34
Issue9
Pages1387-1401
Publication date2020-06-22
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Educational Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0951-354X • E-ISSN: 1758-6518
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/ijem-01-2020-0020
OpenAlexW3037277012
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited32

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add supplement to the theory of human capital with a less researched aspect: diversification possibilities of the professional profile. Our empirical analysis tested the research question, whether there is a significant difference between diversificational and specialist career strategies in the BA-MA transition based on labour market data on salaries and time of getting employment. Design/methodology/approach Present study analyses data from the Graduate Career Tracking System from 2011 to 2015 and the Integrated Administrative Databases from 2017. Graduates of master's courses were divided and compared in three groups: generalists, specialists and field changers. To evaluate career strategies the measurement of success was based on salaries and the time taken to get jobs. Findings The analysis showed that there are visible differences between the results of the three groups regarding factors of employment, so at the time of reaching the absolutorium a lower rate of major subject changers are employed, while field changers get jobs significantly faster. Based on net salaries we could not reveal a difference between major subject retainers and changers, while field changers earn significantly more. Practical implications Specialists (major subject retainers) have jobs that match with their degree and specialty outstandingly, field changers have notably weaker matches, while major subject changers differ only minimally. Considering this it may be due to distorted perception that specialists think the least that their master's studies are essential for the proper execution of their jobs. Originality/value In the literature review we found a research gap: Although there is a large number of excellent works analysing the effects of education on wages (salary curve) and career, but only a few of them investigates the impact of the professional portfolio (diversification or specialisation). The novelty of our research is that we developed a new methodology to test this question on example of the Hungarian students of business and economics focused

Bachelor · Business · Economics · Library science · Management · Medical education · Originality · Pedagogy · Political science · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Specialty · Computer Science · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Higher Education and Employability · Hungarian Social, Economic and Educational Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Marketing

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