In France and Italy – like all the countries of the European Union – the proportion of higher education graduates in the working population has continued to increase. At the same time, the number of jobs requiring this level of education has not grown as quickly. In France and Italy, this has meant a decrease in the proportion of tertiary graduates who occupy managerial positions, and a growing share of these graduates hold jobs as middle and low ranking employees. Several studies have investigated the phenomenon of professional downgrading, focusing on its structural determinants and socio-economic implications at the national level and examining international differences. Nevertheless, only a few studies explore disparities in over-education and compare nations at the regional level. By addressing the need for a spatial approach to this subject, which is so far lacking in the scientific literature, this paper examines the downgrading of higher education graduates in Italy and France at the regional level and discusses the real occupational returns for high levels of education. Using data from the Italian and French censuses, the findings of this analysis show significant sub-regional heterogeneities regarding access to managerial positions for graduates according to the territorial unit observed.

Downgrading among higher education graduates in Italy and France: exploring regional differences

Maria, Carella;
2022-01-01

Abstract

In France and Italy – like all the countries of the European Union – the proportion of higher education graduates in the working population has continued to increase. At the same time, the number of jobs requiring this level of education has not grown as quickly. In France and Italy, this has meant a decrease in the proportion of tertiary graduates who occupy managerial positions, and a growing share of these graduates hold jobs as middle and low ranking employees. Several studies have investigated the phenomenon of professional downgrading, focusing on its structural determinants and socio-economic implications at the national level and examining international differences. Nevertheless, only a few studies explore disparities in over-education and compare nations at the regional level. By addressing the need for a spatial approach to this subject, which is so far lacking in the scientific literature, this paper examines the downgrading of higher education graduates in Italy and France at the regional level and discusses the real occupational returns for high levels of education. Using data from the Italian and French censuses, the findings of this analysis show significant sub-regional heterogeneities regarding access to managerial positions for graduates according to the territorial unit observed.
2022
En Francia e Italia, como en el resto de los países de la Unión Europea, la proporción de los graduados universitarios sigue aumentando en la población activa. Al mismo tiempo, los trabajos que requieren este nivel educativo no están creciendo tan rápidamente. En Francia e Italia, esto se traduce en una disminución de la proporción de titulados superiores que ocupan cargos directivos, y en un aumento de la proporción de los que ocupan puestos de trabajo como obreros o empleados de categoría media o baja. Varias aportaciones han analizado el fenómeno de la sobreeducación, centrándose en sus determinantes estructurales y en las consecuencias socioeconómicas a nivel de país y examinando también las diferencias entre países. Sin embargo, solo algunos de ellos han intentado explorar las disparidades en la sobreeducación comparando los países a nivel regional. Abordando la necesidad de un enfoque espacial/ territorial de este tema, que hasta ahora falta en la literatura científica, en este artículo se examina la desvalorización de los graduados universitarios en Italia y Francia, a una escala regional, y se examinan los verdaderos beneficios profesionales de la obtención de un título de educación superior. Utilizando datos de los censos italiano y francés, los resultados de este análisis muestran importantes heterogeneidades interregionales en el acceso a puestos directivos para los titulados superiores
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/375833
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