2005:42 R

Labour market establishment - graduates in 2001/02

Compared with the figures for those graduating from higher education one year earlier, the proportion had declined by just over two percentage points. On the whole graduates from higher education have a stronger footing in the labour market than those with shorter periods of education.

The deterioration in the labour market situation during the first year of this century is beginning to have some impact on these establishment figures but this reduction is relatively small when seen in the light of general economic developments and Sweden´s economy. One reason why the process of establishment has not been affected more considerably for graduates is that many taking courses in higher education are aiming for employment in the public sector, where the development of demand during this period has not been the same as in other sectors of the economy. The statistics reveal a clear decline in the rate of establishment for those with qualifications in engineering - particularly those whose degrees were in information and communications technology (IT) - while the proportion of the growing numbers of teachers and health care professionals remains unchanged or is even growing.

Doctors, nurses and biomedical analysts are among the groups that most quickly establish themselves on the labour market. In these groups the rate of establishment was 90 per cent 12-18 months after graduation for those graduating in 2001/02. For most categories of degrees the proportions establishing themselves in the labour market in Sweden 12-18 months after graduation were in the 70-90 per cent interval. This applies, for instance, to the large groups qualifying as teachers or engineers.

One group that deviates significantly consists of graduates in the fine arts. Here only 38 per cent had established themselves in the labour market 12-18 months after graduation. Those awarded bachelor´s and master´s degrees in the humanities also have a relatively low rate of establishment - between 40 and 50 per cent.

The same negative deviation can be seen for graduates with foreign backgrounds. They have a lower rate of establishment than those with Swedish backgrounds in nearly all categories of degrees, which suggests that discrimination exists in the Swedish labour market.

Those who have established themselves in the Swedish labour market can mainly be found in the vocational areas to be expected in view of their qualifications, but the range of vocational areas is larger for the groups that find it most difficult to establish themselves. Generally speaking, the range of vocational areas is greater for those with general degrees, i.e. bachelor´s and master´s degrees, than for those awarded vocational qualifications.

The data on which this study of establishment is based comes from a register maintained by Statistics Sweden. This register contains, for instance, data from the taxation authorities on income and data on unemployment and labour market measures from the Labour Market Board. The data in the register has been processed by Statistics Sweden´s Forecast Institute to produce the establishment variable. In addition to this register, data has also been taken from Statistics Sweden´s occupational register.

The report also contains data on the rate of establishment for various categories of degrees classified according to the institutions awarding the qualifications. These figures show for instance that there is no clear differences for those awarded master´s degrees in engineering from the different higher education institutions, whereas clear differences can be seen for many other groups. Where the groups are small these differences may in many cases be the outcome of random circumstances. In addition, local labour market conditions naturally play a major role in the process of establishment. If students are obliged to leave their place of study it often takes them longer to establish themselves.