ILR

International Labour Review

0020-7780 1564-913X

10.1111/ilr.12391

Diverging labour market trajectories of Australian graduates from advantaged and disadvantaged social backgrounds: A longitudinal analysis of population‐wide linked administrative data

ZAJĄC

Tomasz

t.zajac@uq.edu.au TOMASZEWSKI

Wojtek

w.tomaszewski@uq.edu.au PERALES

Francisco

f.perales@uq.edu.au XIANG

Ning

n.xiang@uq.edu.au

University of Queensland, Institute for Social Science Research, Australia

02 12 2023

162 4

10.1111/ilr.v162.4

561 585

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Despite mounting evidence that university participation enhances labour market prospects, there are growing concerns about its unequal returns. This study uses novel large‐scale linked administrative data covering the full population of individuals graduating from Australian universities over the 2005–11 period to examine the labour market trajectories of graduates from multiple disadvantaged social backgrounds (based on socio‐economic, migration and disability status, ethnicity and location) in comparison with their more advantaged peers, over a ten‐year observation window. The findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in the income and unemployment benefit receipt trajectories of graduates from different groups. This has important implications for labour market policies aimed at improving social equity.

administrative data Australia education inequality labour market analysis social disadvantage university graduate

Australian Government. 2008. Review of Australian Higher Education – Final Report. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Bennett, Anna, RyanNaylor, KateMellor, MattBrett, JennyGore, AndrewHarvey, RichardJames, BelindaMunn, MaxSmith, and GeoffWhitty. 2015. The Critical Interventions Framework Part 2: Equity Initiatives in Australian Higher Education – A Review of Evidence of Impact. Newcastle, NSW: University of Newcastle.

Borgen, Nicolai T., and ArneMastekaasa. 2018. “Horizontal Stratification of Higher Education: The Relative Importance of Field of Study, Institution, and Department for Candidates' Wages”. Social Forces 97 (2): 531–558.

Burke, Ciaran, TracyScurry, and JohnBlenkinsopp. 2020. “Navigating the Graduate Labour Market: The Impact of Social Class on Student Understandings of Graduate Careers and the Graduate Labour Market”. Studies in Higher Education 45 (8): 1711–1722.

Coates, Hamish, and DanielEdwards. 2009. The 2008 Graduate Pathways Survey: Graduates' Education and Employment Outcomes Five Years after Completion of a Bachelor Degree at an Australian University. Australian Council for Educational Research.

Coleman, James S.1988. “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital”. American Journal of Sociology 94 (Supplement): S95–S120.

Corliss, Michael Craig, AnneDaly, and PhilLewis. 2020. “Is a University Degree Still a Worthwhile Financial Investment in Australia?” Australian Journal of Education 64 (1): 73–90.

Desjardins, Richard, and JeongwooLee. 2016. Earnings and Employment Benefits of Adult Higher Education in Comparative Perspective: Evidence Based on the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). Los Angeles, CA: University of California Los Angeles.

DiPrete, Thomas A., and Gregory M.Eirich. 2006. “Cumulative Advantage as a Mechanism for Inequality: A Review of Theoretical and Empirical Developments”. Annual Review of Sociology 32 (August): 271–297.

Edwards, Daniel, and HamishCoates. 2011. “Monitoring the Pathways and Outcomes of People from Disadvantaged Backgrounds and Graduate Groups”. Higher Education Research & Development 30 (2): 151–163.

Elder, Glen H.Jr., Monica KirkpatrickJohnson, and RobertCrosnoe. 2003. “The Emergence and Development of Life Course Theory”. In Handbook of the Life Course, edited by Jeylan T.Mortimer and Michael J.Shanahan, 3–19. New York, NY: Springer.

Forster, Andrea G., Herman G.van deWerfhorst, and ThomasLeopold. 2021. “Who Benefits Most from College? Dimensions of Selection and Heterogeneous Returns to Higher Education in the United States and the Netherlands”. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 73 (June): Article No. 100607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100607.

Franzen, Axel, and DominikHangartner. 2006. “Social Networks and Labour Market Outcomes: The Non-Monetary Benefits of Social Capital”. European Sociological Review 22 (4): 353–368.

Frick, Joachim R., and Markus M.Grabka. 2010. “Item Nonresponse and Imputation of Annual Labor Income in Panel Surveys from a Cross-National Perspective”. In Survey Methods in Multinational, Multiregional, and Multicultural Contexts, edited by Janet A.Harkness, MichaelBraun, BradEdwards, Timothy P.Johnson, LarsLyberg, Peter Ph.Mohler, Beth-EllenPennell and Tom W.Smith, 355–372. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Friedman, Sam, and DanielLaurison. 2019. The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays to Be Privileged. Bristol: Policy Press.

Harvey, Andrew, CatherineBurnheim, and Matthew Brett, eds. 2016. Student Equity in Australian Higher Education: Twenty-Five Years of a Fair Chance for All. Singapore: Springer.

Heckman, James J., John EricHumphries, and GregoryVeramendi. 2018. “Returns to Education: The Causal Effects of Education on Earnings, Health, and Smoking”. Journal of Political Economy 126 (S1): S197–S246.

Jacob, Marita, MarkusKlein, and CristinaIannelli. 2015. “The Impact of Social Origin on Graduates' Early Occupational Destinations: An Anglo–German Comparison”. European Sociological Review 31 (4): 460–476.

Klein, Markus. 2021. “Who Benefits from Attending Elite Universities? Family Background and Graduates' Career Trajectories”. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 72 (April): Article No. 100585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100585.

Kratz, Fabian, and NicolaiNetz. 2018. “Which Mechanisms Explain Monetary Returns to International Student Mobility?” Studies in Higher Education 43 (2): 375–400.

Krumpal, Ivar. 2013. “Determinants of Social Desirability Bias in Sensitive Surveys: A Literature Review”. Quality & Quantity 47 (4): 2025–2047.

Li, Ian W., StephaneMahuteau, Alfred M.Dockery, and P.N. (Raja)Junankar. 2017. “Equity in Higher Education and Graduate Labour Market Outcomes in Australia”. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 39 (6): 625–641.

Lin, Nan. 2001. “Building A Network Theory of Social Capital”. In Social Capital: Theory and Research, edited by NanLin, KarenCook and Ronald S.Burt, 3–30. New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

Manroop, Laxmikant, and JuliaRichardson. 2016. “Job Search: A Multidisciplinary Review and Research Agenda”. International Journal of Management Reviews 18 (2): 206–227.

Manzoni, Anna, and JessiStreib. 2019. “The Equalizing Power of a College Degree for First-Generation College Students: Disparities across Institutions, Majors, and Achievement Levels”. Research in Higher Education 60 (5): 577–605.

Martin, L.M.1994. Equity and General Performance Indicators in Higher Education. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

National Board of Employment, Education and Training. 1996. Equality, Diversity and Excellence: Advancing the National Higher Education Equity Framework, April 1996. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2019. Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators. Paris.

Pitman, Tim, LynneRoberts, DawnBennett, and SarahRichardson. 2019. “An Australian Study of Graduate Outcomes for Disadvantaged Students”. Journal of Further and Higher Education 43 (1): 45–57.

Productivity Commission. 2019. “The Demand Driven University System: A Mixed Report Card ”, Productivity Commission Research Paper. Canberra.

Quadlin, Natasha. 2018. “The Mark of a Woman's Record: Gender and Academic Performance in Hiring”. American Sociological Review 83 (2): 331–360.

Rafferty, Anthony. 2012. “Ethnic Penalties in Graduate Level Over-Education, Unemployment and Wages: Evidence from Britain”. Work, Employment and Society 26 (6): 987–1006.

Richardson, Sarah, DawnBennett, and LynneRoberts. 2016. Investigating the Relationship between Equity and Graduate Outcomes in Australia. Perth: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.

Rivera, Lauren A.2020. “Employer Decision Making”. Annual Review of Sociology 46 (July): 215–232.

Shalley, Fiona, JamesSmith, DeniseWood, BronwynFredericks, KimRobertson, and SteveLarkin. 2019. “Understanding Completion Rates of Indigenous Higher Education Students from Two Regional Universities: A Cohort Analysis”. Final Report for Student Equity in Higher Education Research Grants Program, 2017. Perth: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.

Singer, Judith D., and John B.Willett. 2003. Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis: Modeling Change and Event Occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Tang, Angelina, FranciscoPerales, FranciscoRowe, and JaneenBaxter. 2022a. “From Bad to Worse: Examining the Deteriorating Labour Market Outcomes of International Graduates in Australia”. Journal of Population Research 39 (3): 441–473.

Tang, Angelina, FranciscoPerales, FranciscoRowe, and JaneenBaxter. 2022b. “The Going Gets Rougher: Exploring the Labour Market Outcomes of International Graduates in Australia”. International Migration 60 (6): 167–184.

Tomaszewski, Wojtek, MatthiasKubler, FranciscoPerales, MarkWestern, TinaRampino, and NingXiang. 2018. Review of Identified Equity Groups. Brisbane: University of Queensland.

Tomaszewski, Wojtek, FranciscoPerales, NingXiang, and MatthiasKubler. 2019. Beyond Graduation: Long-Term Socioeconomic Outcomes amongst Equity Students. Perth: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.

Tomaszewski, Wojtek, FranciscoPerales, NingXiang, and MatthiasKubler. 2021. “Beyond Graduation: Socio-Economic Background and Post-University Outcomes of Australian Graduates”. Research in Higher Education 62 (1): 26–44.

Tomaszewski, Wojtek, FranciscoPerales, NingXiang, and MatthiasKubler. 2022. “Differences in Higher Education Access, Participation and Outcomes by Socioeconomic Background: A Life Course Perspective”. In Family Dynamics over the Life Course: Foundations, Turning Points and Outcomes, edited by JaneenBaxter, JackLam, JennyPovey, RennieLee and Stephen R.Zubrick, 133–155. Cham: Springer.

Toutkoushian, Robert K., M. NajeebShafiq, and Michael J.Trivette. 2013. “Accounting for Risk of Non-Completion in Private and Social Rates of Return to Higher Education”. Journal of Education Finance 39 (1): 73–95.

Triventi, Moris. 2013. “The Role of Higher Education Stratification in the Reproduction of Social Inequality in the Labor Market”. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 32 (June): 45–63.

van derVelden, Rolf K.W., and Maarten H.J.Wolbers. 2007. “How Much Does Education Matter and Why? The Effects of Education on Socio-Economic Outcomes among School-Leavers in the Netherlands”. European Sociological Review 23 (1): 65–80.

Whitney, Kelly, and GaylPurchase. 2018. “Understanding the Study-to-Work Transition of Australian University Graduates from Disadvantaged Backgrounds: A Scoping Study”. Access: Critical Explorations of Equity in Higher Education 5 (1): 80–91.

Witteveen, Dirk, and PaulAttewell. 2017. “Family Background and Earnings Inequality among College Graduates”. Social Forces 95 (4): 1539–1576.

Witteveen, Dirk, and PaulAttewell. 2020. “Reconsidering the ‘Meritocratic Power of a College Degree‘”. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 66 (April): Article No. 100479. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100479.

Zając, Tomasz, WojtekTomaszewski, FranciscoPerales, and NingXiang. 2021. “Diverging Labour-Market Trajectories of Australian Graduates from Advantaged and Disadvantaged Social Backgrounds: A Longitudinal Analysis of Population-Wide Linked Administrative Data”, Life Course Centre Working Paper Series, 2021-21. Brisbane: Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland.

Zarifa, David, DavidWalters, and BradSeward. 2015. “The Earnings and Employment Outcomes of the 2005 Cohort of Canadian Postsecondary Graduates with Disabilities”. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de sociologie 52 (4): 343–376.

Zhou, Xiang. 2022. “Attendance, Completion, and Heterogeneous Returns to College: A Causal Mediation Approach”. Sociological Methods & Research, published online ahead of print, 1 August 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/00491241221113876.