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Horizontal Mismatch Between Employment And Field Of Education: Evidence From A Systematic Literature Review

Author

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  • Melline A. Somers
  • Sofie J. Cabus
  • Wim Groot
  • Henriëtte Maassen van den Brink

Abstract

This paper provides a systematic review of the growing literature on the poor match between employees’ field degree and the job requirements, also referred to as horizontal mismatch. We identify the different definitions used in the literature and find that each measure of horizontal mismatch yields substantially different incidence rates. We discuss the validity of the different measures and conclude that a more uniform definition of horizontal mismatch is needed. The likelihood of horizontal mismatch is among other things determined by the extent to which employees possess general skills as opposed to occupation‐specific skills, and, it appears to be more frequently present among older workers. Compared to well‐matched employees, horizontally mismatched workers generally incur a wage penalty, are less satisfied with their jobs, and are more likely to regret their study programme. The ensuing findings offer guidance to prevent horizontal mismatch as well as a roadmap for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Melline A. Somers & Sofie J. Cabus & Wim Groot & Henriëtte Maassen van den Brink, 2019. "Horizontal Mismatch Between Employment And Field Of Education: Evidence From A Systematic Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 567-603, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:567-603
    DOI: 10.1111/joes.12271
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shengjun Jiang, 2024. "Reasons for college major-job mismatch and subsequent job mobility and earnings growth," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 1275-1301, September.
    2. Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez & Julio César Martínez Sánchez, 2024. "Habilidades buscadas por las empresas en el mercado laboral mexicano: un análisis de las ofertas laborales publicadas en internet/Skills sought by companies in the Mexican labor market: An analysis o," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 39(2), pages 243–278-2.
    3. Maciej Berk{e}sewicz & Greta Bia{l}kowska & Krzysztof Marcinkowski & Magdalena Ma'slak & Piotr Opiela & Robert Pater & Katarzyna Zadroga, 2019. "Enhancing the Demand for Labour survey by including skills from online job advertisements using model-assisted calibration," Papers 1908.06731, arXiv.org.
    4. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2021. "Mapping the (mis)match of university degrees in the graduate labor market," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Pérez Navarro, Marco Aurelio, 2021. "University graduates’ job-education mismatches in the Spanish labour market," MPRA Paper 109881, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Sam Jones & Ricardo Santos & Gimelgo Xirinda, 2020. "Misinformed, mismatched, or misled?: Explaining the gap between expected and realized graduate earnings in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-47, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Manuel, Nick, 2024. "Does the labour market value field of study specific knowledge? An alignment score based approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Sung-Tae Lee & Sun-Moon Jung, 2023. "Is Your Degree Worth It? Education-Job Transferability and Job Satisfaction of ICT Workers," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    9. Giorgio Brunello & Patricia Wruuck, 2021. "Skill shortages and skill mismatch: A review of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1145-1167, September.
    10. Galanakis, Yannis, 2020. "Female Human Capital Mismatch: An extension for the British public sector," GLO Discussion Paper Series 669, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Wilson, Anna & Bajka, Scherwin M., 2024. "Skill provision concerns in the knowledge economy: training firms’ perspective," OSF Preprints qjpz5, Center for Open Science.
    12. Gabriela Morejón Cabrera & Petr Mariel, 2024. "Master’s degree studies and its impact on vertical and horizontal mismatch in Spain," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 41(3), pages 687-716, October.
    13. Balzhan Serikbayeva & Kanat Abdulla, 2022. "Education-Job Mismatch: Implications for Individual Earnings and Aggregate Output," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 723-752, September.
    14. Esposito, Piero & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2020. "Educational mismatches, technological change and unemployment: evidence from secondary and tertiary educated workers," GLO Discussion Paper Series 465, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Tran, Tuyen Quang & Bich Thi Vu, Ngoc & Van Vu, Huong, 2023. "Does job mismatch affect wage earnings among business and management graduates in Vietnam?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    16. Jiang, Shengjun & Guo, Yilan, 2022. "Reasons for college major-job mismatch and labor market outcomes: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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