Transition of higher education graduates to the labour market

Are Employment Procedures More Meritocratic in the Public Sector

Bibliographic Data

ID4545231
AuthorsChristian Berggren (0000-0001-9328-9680, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author), Caroline Berggren
Year2011
Volume33
Issue2
Pages91-100
Publication date2011-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Higher Education Policy and Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-080X • E-ISSN: 1469-9508
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1360080x.2011.550031
OpenAlexW1990623855
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited15

As an employer, the public sector might be expected to be more meritocratic than the private sector, because of its democratic values and more transparent appointments procedures. In this context meritocratic means that the employer only considers characteristics such as degree and grades, relevant for the position in question. The individuals in this study have completed one of four higher education degrees, and are aged 30–32 years (n = 22,133). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were employed. The results show that the public and the private sector are similar in that they both seem to prefer male graduates from old and well-established universities. One slight difference is that graduates' family and national backgrounds appear to be less relevant in the public sector than in the private sector. These differences are present even when several other educational factors are the same. Keywords: graduatesprivate sectorpublic sectorSwedenworkforce transition Acknowledgement The study was carried through by financial support from the Swedish Research Council

Business · Economic growth · Economics · Higher education · Labour economics · Market economy · Meritocracy · Public sector · Transition (genetics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub