Introduction

In the past few decades, the rapid pace of technological advances coupled with increasing globalisation has resulted in the restructuring of labour markets from industrial to post-industrial. As Kalleberg (2009) notes, the spatial restructuring of labour markets has occurred on a global scale, dismantling national employment hierarchies. Furthermore, the pyramid structure of industrial era labour markets has been replaced by an hourglass structure due to the polarization of jobs into those requiring high levels of skill and those requiring low levels of skill (Kalleberg 2011). This trend is particularly prevalent in liberal market economies (Kalleberg 2012), such as Australia, which were early adopters of neoliberal economic policies. Neoliberalism is based on a belief that market forces are best placed to distribute resources therefore governments should refrain from interfering with the conduct of markets (Harvey 2010; Piketty 2014). Consequently, labour market conditions have deteriorated, wages for low-paid workers have stagnated, and young people, in particular, have found entry into full-time employment more difficult (Cebulla and Whetton 2017; Furlong et al. 2017; Hardgrove et al. 2015). Being employed on a permanent full-time basis (that is working at least 35 hours per week in a job with an ongoing contract) is an important marker of adulthood (Mills et al. 2005), allowing one to establish one’s economic independence and to make plans for one’s future (Chesters and Cuervo 2019).

Neoliberalism exacerbated the ongoing globalisation of world trade (Harvey 2010; Piketty 2014). The twin forces of neoliberalism and globalisation intensified market deregulation and encouraged multinational corporations to move labour-intensive operations to low wage, under/unregulated labour markets (Lent 2018). Consequently, youth labour markets collapsed as entry-level jobs disappeared (Aronson et al. 2015; Mills et al. 2005). The movement of capital across national borders was facilitated by the technological revolution, which allows for the transfer of money instantaneously. The removal of government restrictions on the flow of capital into, and out of, nations created opportunities for investors to seek new forms of profit-making unrestricted by national concerns (Harvey 2010).

The transition into a post-industrial labour market resulted in permanent full-time low- and medium-skill jobs in the manufacturing sector being replaced by precarious low-skill jobs in the services sector. Service sector employment is polarised into high-skill and low-skill jobs (Kalleberg 2011) with those employed in high-skill jobs being more likely than their low-skilled peers to have permanent full-time employment. Consequently, employees are encouraged to engage in formal education and to complete new qualifications to remain competitive in the labour market throughout their working lives. The need for ever higher levels of education and training results in prolonged educational careers and relatively long periods in part-time employment as young people delay entry into full-time employment and older workers return to education to reskill and upskill in preparation for the new employment opportunities being generated in new industries.

To examine the success, or otherwise, of transitions between full-time education and full-time employment of young Australians, I draw on data collected by the Life Patterns project from one cohort of young Australians who completed secondary school in 2006. Although this cohort of school leavers was surveyed on an annual basis between 2005 and 2018, for this paper, I conduct analysis of the data collected in 2018. My focus is on whether they have achieved a successful transition by age 30. This cohort of young people completed secondary school just before the turmoil of the Global Financial Crisis. Their experiences suggest that policymakers may need to rethink the education to work nexus and prepare future cohorts of school leavers for prolonged, non-linear transitions into adulthood. In this paper, I focus on three factors that may indicate a successful transition between education and employment: having a permanent full-time job; having a job directly related to one’s field of study; and having a high level of job satisfaction. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: after providing an overview of the context and relevant theoretical perspectives, I introduce the data and analytical strategy. The next section presents the results of the analysis and this is followed by the discussion of the results and the implications for policy.

New Employment Landscapes

In the post-industrial era, new employment opportunities are increasingly likely to be in the services sectors, reliant on the needs and wants of clients rather than the predictable production schedules that characterised employment during the industrial era. Some refer to this re-organisation as the emergence of the gig economy in which work is contracted out and workplaces are more fluid, colonising homes and invading leisure time. The adoption of neoliberal policies and the resultant deregulation of the labour market coupled with waning union power removed employment protections and facilitated the ability of companies to considerably reduce labour costs (Kalleberg 2011, 2012; Spencer 2018). Rather than employing workers on a full-time basis, employers are able to break jobs down into small components and hire workers to complete specific tasks or contract out tasks on a fee-for-service basis (Lazar and Ruan 2018; Wood et al. 2019). Competition among individual workers who bid for the right to be paid for completing tasks (Brown et al. 2011) rather than apply for jobs, allows employers to offer lower levels of remuneration and security. By becoming contractors, workers are denied access to working conditions enshrined in legislation such as annual leave, sick leave, health costs and compensation for work-related injuries, and employer contributions to superannuation accounts. As Kalleberg (2009) argues, insecurity of employment is associated with increased economic inequality and instability. Furthermore, the gig economy undermines the link between employment and identity by removing the worker from the workplace and replacing the sense of being employed with a sense of being for sale (Chesters and Wyn 2019).

The outcome of this restructuring of the labour market is that opportunities for engaging in full-time paid employment throughout the life course have contracted (Furlong et al. 2017) and the ability to build a life narrative around one’s work is less certain ‘resulting in a sense of aimlessness and inadequacy’ (Kalleberg 2011: 86). Being employed continues to be an important social norm and non-compliance is associated with guilt and shame (Stam et al. 2016). Therefore, the inability to engage in secure meaningful work undermines one’s ability to live up to the expectations of society (Stam et al. 2016). Although some argue that the introduction of a universal basic income would provide money for basic financial needs regardless of employment status (Lazar and Ruan 2018), this strategy would not mitigate the need to comply with the societal expectation that one is employed nor alleviate of the impact of non-employment on wellbeing.

Theoretical Perspective

For this paper, I draw on Jahoda’s (1981, 1988) deprivation theory. Although originally developed to explain how involuntary unemployment has both financial and non-financial consequences, deprivation theory may also explain why workers remain in employment that is not commensurate with their educational credentials and skills and/or not associated with high levels of job satisfaction. According to the deprivation theory, employment sustains five basic needs apart from sustenance: structured time, social contact, engagement in civic activities, status, and regular activity. In other words, even if an individual does not need to rely on employment to provide an income, their level of wellbeing may be negatively affected if they are unable to satisfy their inherent need for scheduled activities that provide opportunities to engage with others and contribute to their society. If the shift towards the gig economy continues to undermine opportunities for full-time secure employment, being employed may not necessarily fulfil the need for structured time and regular activity, thus, diminishing the non-pecuniary benefits of employment. Jahoda’s deprivation theory is supported by the work of several other researchers including Andersen (2009), Clark et al. (2010), and Griep et al. (2016).

Preparation for Employment

Jobs in the post-industrial economy are increasingly likely to require tertiary educational qualifications encouraging young people to prolong their educational careers and attain high-level qualifications. Consequently, the proportion of the workforce with university-level qualifications is increasing and competition for jobs in professional occupations is intensifying, resulting in credential inflation (van de Werfhorst 2009). The restructuring of the labour market since the 1980s has resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of young adults with university-level qualifications. In particular, young women have shown an increased propensity to undertake and complete university degrees. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), between 1982 and 2017, the proportion of men aged 25–34 years with a bachelor degree increased from 12.6 to 33.7% and the proportion of women aged 25–34 years with a bachelor degree increased from 8.0 to 45.1% (ABS 2018) (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Trends in university degree holders 1982–2017 by gender. Source: Derived from ABS 2018

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Labour Market Trends

Despite increasing levels of education, the proportions of young adults engaging in part-time employment are increasing (ABS 2019) due to the contraction in full-time employment opportunities (Cebulla and Whetton 2017). Rates of casual employment are also relatively high for those aged 25–34 years (ABS 2016). In 2016, 20.6% of employees aged 25–34 years were employed on a casual basis compared to 17.2% of those aged 35–44 years and 16% of those aged 45–54 years. Although there is an expectation that young people undertaking tertiary education will work part-time until they graduate, the relatively high rates of underemployment (working fewer hours than one would like to) indicate that those working part-time are not necessarily satisfied with their employment situation. In 2017, 5.7% of men and 8.8% of women aged 25–34 years were working part-time but seeking to work more hours (ABS 2019). The graph in Fig. 2 charts the trends in underemployment rates between 1982 and 2017 showing the upward spike in 2009, the recovery but then the increasing rates since 2012.

Fig. 2
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Trends in underemployment 1982–2017 by gender. Source: Derived from ABS Labour Force, Australia 2019

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Given that rates of underemployment during the prime working age years of 25–34 are trending upwards, policy makers may need to prepare youth for the likelihood of being underemployed rather than assuming that full-time employment opportunities are readily available. Seamless transitions between full-time education and full-time employment are no longer reliant on the ability and willingness of youth to invest in their education. As Chesters and Wyn (2019) show, even young people who complete multiple degrees are not necessarily employed in full-time permanent jobs.

Job/Life Satisfaction

Another indicator of successful transitions between education and employment is level of job satisfaction. When workers are asked about their level of job satisfaction, they are making a judgement about how happy they are with various aspects of their employment. Therefore, levels of job satisfaction are dependent upon the characteristics of the job and the characteristics of the worker (Brown et al. 2012; Kalleberg 2011; Wilczyńska et al. 2016). According to Brown et al. (2012: 1008), levels of job satisfaction ‘play a useful role in an understanding of the quality of working life’, including the impact of employment on individual wellbeing and health. Several studies show that workers engaged in precarious employment report lower levels of job satisfaction than those engaged in permanent employment (Cuervo and Chesters 2019; Buddelmeyer et al. 2015; Glavin 2013; Kalleberg 2011; Wilczyńska et al. 2016).

The focus of this paper is on the experiences of young people transitioning between education and employment, during a period of rapid social and economic change. To prepare for the transition between full-time education and full-time employment, youth are encouraged to undertake tertiary study and to engage in part-time employment during their prolonged educational careers. Despite higher levels of investment in credentials and employment experience, young adults are increasingly likely to endure periods of underemployment. Although the Australian economy experienced 18 years of economic growth between 2000 and 2018, the underemployment rate for those aged 25 to 34 years increased. To assess and understand the impacts of recent social and economic changes on transitions between full-time education and full-time employment, I draw upon survey data collected from one cohort of young adults in 2018. My analyses of these data are guided by four research questions:

  • What is the association between educational qualification and employment status?

  • What is the association between educational qualification and occupation?

  • Does a mismatch between educational qualification and occupation diminish perceptions of job satisfaction?

  • How do young adults prepare for transitions into employment?

Method

Data

To answer the research questions, I conduct analysis of data from the Life Patterns project, a longitudinal project collecting quantitative and qualitative data from two cohorts of Australians. For this article, I analyse survey data collected in 2018 from participants in the cohort who completed secondary school in 2006. The participants were selected via a two-stage sampling method. Initially, 77 schools across Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Tasmania were selected using a stratified random-sampling method. Students in the selected schools who were due to complete Year 12 in 2006 were invited to participate in the project (n = 3977). The analyses are conducted using data collected in 2018 when the participants were aged 30 years (n = 490). Although this is a much smaller sample, substantial attrition is a common issue with panel data collected over an extended period (Evans et al. 2013; Ruspini 2003). Despite attrition, the sample has broadly retained consistency in terms of location and socioeconomic background, however, women now account for 68% of the sample—see Table 5 in the Appendix for a comparison of the wave 1 characteristics of the original sample and those of the 2018 analytical sample.

Variables

For the first research question, the outcome variable is employment status in 2018. For the second research question, the outcome variable is job study match in 2018, that is working in the same field as their educational qualification. For the third research question, the outcome variable is level of job satisfaction. The employment status variable is derived from two questions: average number of hours in paid work each week and type of employment contract: permanent or non-permanent (fixed-term or casual). Participants who reported working at least 35 h/week in paid employment are regarded as being employed full time, those working less than 35 h/week are regarded as being employed part-time. The derived variable has five categories: not employed, employed full-time on permanent contract, employed full-time on non-permanent contract, employed part-time on permanent contract, and employed part-time on non-permanent contract. The job study match variable is derived from a question asking respondents whether their educational qualification was related to their current main job and is coded 1 for yes and 0 for no.

Job satisfaction is measured using an index derived from eight statements relating to aspects of the respondent’s main job: I have freedom to decide what I do; my job lets me use my skills and abilities; the work is interesting; it gives me a feeling of accomplishment; it is directly related to my qualifications; it is what I expected to have at this age; I look forward to coming to work; I have many chances to share in decision-making. The answer options ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Therefore, I reverse coded these variables so that higher scores indicated higher levels of agreement. I took the mean of the responses to construct the index. The Cronbach’s Alpha for the job satisfaction index is 0.8555 indicating that the index is internally coherent, that is these indicators are measuring different aspects of the same concept. The index ranges from 1 to 5 with high values indicating higher levels of satisfaction. The index mean is 3.51 with a standard deviation of 0.76.

The key explanatory variable is highest level of education, which has four categories: school only, Vocational Education and Training (VET), bachelor degree, and post-graduate degree. The analyses include two control variables: gender and marital status. Gender is coded 1 for female and 0 for male. Marital status has two categories: 1 = single (including separated/divorced/widow); 0 = de facto/married. Throughout the questionnaire, Life Patterns participants are given opportunities to include their comments on various topics. These comments provide a more detailed understanding of how the participants are experiencing the challenges of transitioning into adulthood during the twenty-first century.

Sample Characteristics

In 2018, 68% of the participants were female, therefore, the sample characteristics are presented separately for men and women, and gender is included as a control variable in the analysis. Women were more likely than men to have at least one university-level qualification: 81% compared to 74%. Around 60% of men and women were married. Men were more likely than women to be employed full-time in a permanent job: 66% compared to 50%. There was a four-percentage point difference according to gender for agreement with the statement that their job was directly related to their qualification: 72% of men compared to 68% of women-see Table 1.

Table 1 Selected characteristics at age 30, according to gender
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Analytical Strategy

To answer the first research question, I conduct multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the association between educational qualification and employment status. Multinomial logistic regression analysis estimates the relative risk ratios for each of the four categories not selected as the reference category. By selecting employed full-time on a permanent contract as the reference category, the model estimates the likelihood of being (1) full-time employed on a non-permanent contract, (2) part-time employed on a permanent contract, and (3) part-time employed on a non-permanent contract, and (4) not employed; relative to being employed full-time on a permanent contract.

To answer the second research question, I conduct logistic regression analysis to examine the association between educational qualification and occupation. Logistic regression models estimate odds ratios. An odds ratio of less than one indicates a negative effect whereas an odds ratio of more than one indicates a positive effect. Therefore, if the association between having a high level of education and being in a job directly related to field of study is positive, the odds ratio will be greater than one.

I conduct regression analysis to examine whether perceptions of job satisfaction are affected by level of education and being employed in a job directly related to field of study to answer the third research question. Regression coefficients represent the average change in occupational prestige that can be attributed to change in each of the explanatory variables, net of all the other explanatory variables. In the first model, the coefficient for each category of education on job satisfaction is net of gender and marital status. In the second model, the coefficient for each category of education on job satisfaction is net of gender, marital status, and job study match.

To answer the final research question, ‘How do young adults prepare for transitions into employment?’, I draw on comments made by the participants. The annual Life Patterns’ surveys invite participants to comment on various issues. Of the 490 participants who completed the 2018 survey, 282 provided comments about the links between their education and employment. I conduct a content analysis of these comments to identify the main themes related to the final research question.

Results

In this study, successful transitions between education and employment are indicated by the achievement of full-time permanent employment, employment in a job directly related to one’s educational qualification, and/or having a high level of job satisfaction.

Association between educational qualification and employment status

To examine the association between educational qualification and employment status, I constructed a multinomial logistic regression model with permanent full-time employment as the base category. The results presented in Table 2 show that there is no association between level of education and employment outcomes, net of gender, and marital status. These results indicate that gender is more important than level of education in terms of employment outcomes in young adulthood. Compared to men, women were 5 times more likely to be employed part-time on a permanent contract; 2.4 times more likely to be employed part-time on a non-permanent contract; and 3 times more likely to be not employed relative to being employed on a full-time permanent contract, net of highest level of education, and marital status. I also conducted the analysis separately by gender (results not shown), again finding that level of education was not associated with employment status.

Table 2 Relative risk ratios for employment status according to highest level of education
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Association between Educational Qualification and Occupation

After controlling for gender, marital status, and employment status, having a post-graduate degree was positively associated with having a job study match (see Table 3). Those with a post-graduate degree were twice as likely as those with no post-school qualifications to be employed in a job directly related to their field of study. However, those with a bachelor degree or a VET qualification were no more likely than those with no post-school educational qualifications to be employed in their field of study. Net of the other factors, those employed part-time on either permanent or non-permanent contracts were less likely than those working full-time on a permanent contract to be employed in a job directly related to their field of study.

Table 3 Odds ratios for being employed in a job related to field of study
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Association between Perceptions of Job Satisfaction and Educational Qualification and Occupation

To examine the association between levels of job satisfaction and education and job study match, I constructed two models. In the first model, I included gender, education, marital status, and employment status. In the second model, I additionally included job study match. The results are presented in Table 4. The results for the first model indicate that net of gender, education, marital status, and being employed in a part-time position, either permanent or non-permanent, is negatively associated with level of job satisfaction. Education is not independently associated with level of job satisfaction. When job study match is included in the second model, having a job that is directly related to field of study is positively associated with level of job satisfaction. The coefficients for employment status are smaller but maintain statistical significance. This result suggests that having a job directly related to field of study somewhat diminishes the negative effect of being employed part-time on job satisfaction, but does not completely compensate for it.

Table 4 coefficients for level of job satisfaction according to employment status and job study match
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Preparing for Transitions into Employment

Having established that level of education is not strongly associated with employment outcomes, I now examine how young adults view their experience of transitions between education and employment. A content analysis of the comments made by the participants generated three main themes: successful preparations (65%), unsuccessful preparations (15%), and ongoing preparations (13%). The remaining 7% of comments were unable to be allocated to these main themes.

Successful Preparations

The comments allocated to the successful preparations theme can be delineated into two sub-categories: my current job is directly related to my educational qualification, and my job is not directly related to my educational qualification, but I use the skills I gained. Being employed in a job directly related to one’s educational qualification is an indication that one’s preparation for the transition between education and employment has been successful.

The participants who indicated that their current job was directly related to their educational qualification were more likely to comment on being satisfied with their career choice and their employment situation. For example, one male with a Graduate Diploma of Arts employed permanent full-time as a Senior Social Media Producer commented: ‘I believe that post graduate studies played a key role in helping me secure my current role’. Another male participant with a Bachelor of Engineering employed permanent full-time as an Engineer commented: ‘I am employed in my chosen field…I am happy with my current situation’. A female participant with a Master of Education employed permanent full-time as a school teacher commented: ‘Employed happily in my field of study’. Another female participant with a Bachelor of Education employed non-permanent full-time as an Applied Behaviour Analysis Therapist commented: ‘I have plenty of work that is directly related to my degree and studies’.

These comments support the findings of the analysis presented earlier in that being employed in a job that is directly related to the field of study is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. As Aronson and colleagues (2017) note, being employed in a job associated with one’s career plan is intrinsically rewarding and therefore more satisfying.

Other participants commented that although they were not employed in jobs directly related to their educational qualifications, they did use the skills they acquired during their studies. In other words, their preparation for their transition into employment was less conventional, however, just as rewarding. Typical comments from this group of participants included ‘My degree is not directly relevant to my current role, but the skills I gained in the degree are useful’ from a female participant with a Master of Science currently studying for a PhD and employed part-time on a non-permanent contract as a Research Fellow. One male participant with a Bachelor of Commerce employed permanent full-time as a Public Servant commented: ‘My degree got me into a graduate program which led to unrelated work’. Another Public Servant commented: ‘I am not working in my field of study…I feel like the skills I learnt through study… contributed to my success’ (female with a Bachelor of Communications employed permanent full-time). One female participant with a Master of Applied Science employed part-time on a non-permanent contract as a Copywriter commented: ‘I have found that my tertiary qualifications have been quite useful in finding jobs in other fields’.

In other words, in some cases, completing post-secondary educational qualifications provided access to employment opportunities that were not necessarily considered as prospective careers during adolescence; however, their investment in post-secondary educational credentials had facilitated their transition into satisfying employment.

Unsuccessful Preparations

For some participants, the completion of high-level educational qualifications was associated with disappointment with their employment outcomes. In other words, their preparation for transition from education to employment had not been as successful as they had envisioned. One male participant with a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice but not currently employed commented: ‘There is a massive oversupply of Law graduates…I am very disillusioned about how Law schools are willing to exploit school leavers’. A female participant employed part-time in Administration commented: ‘I did a double degree and there were no jobs’. Another female participant with a Diploma of Financial Services employed as an Insurance Broker commented: ‘I finished my degree and couldn’t find work…I had to do further study’. One male participant with a Bachelor of Design who was employed part-time as a Warehouse Packer commented: ‘A degree seems to have no value these days’. A female participant with a Bachelor Degree (Psychology) who was employed part-time as an Outside School Carer commented: ‘Too much competition for jobs, everyone has a degree- need experience, but how??’

This comment echoes the work of Bell and Blanchflower (2011) who argue that young workers find themselves in an ‘experience trap’ in tight labour markets because as new labour market entrants, they cannot gain the necessary experience and employers can easily recruit older experienced workers (see also Mills et al. 2005). Furlong et al. (2011) argue that the demand for employees with university-level qualifications has not matched the growing supply of graduates. Therefore, unemployment or mal-employment related to being employed in a job requiring lower skills and qualifications is also growing, depressing the earnings of graduates (Cebulla and Whetton 2017; Karmel and Carroll 2016; Maxwell and Broadbridge 2017) and lowering their levels of wellbeing (Heyes et al. 2017).

Ongoing Preparations

Illustrating their unwavering belief in the promise of better employment opportunities for the well-credentialed (Wyn et al. 2017), at age 30, some participants had returned to study or were planning to return to study in order to gain promotions or establish new careers. Their initial preparation for employment had been either unsuccessful or they were now preparing for another stage in their working lives. For some, it would seem, preparation for jobs in the twenty-first century is ongoing. One male participant with a Bachelor Degree and a Certificate in Electrotechnology who was employed as a Web Developer commented: ‘I still feel a need to do further study as my industry changes rapidly’. One female participant with a dual degree (Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Social Work) who was employed as a Social Worker commented: ‘I am undertaking further study in order to advance within the field of my current employment’. Cognisant of the highly competitive nature of the twenty-first century labour market, other participants were planning to return to study. One female participant with a Bachelor of Optometry and employed as an Optometrist commented: ‘I would like to be promoted…I may have to do tertiary studies to prove myself’. Another female participant with a dual degree (Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Commerce) who was employed as a Public Servant commented: ‘Later this year, I will commence a Master Degree in my chosen area to enhance my knowledge and further my career’.

As these comments show, engagement with the education system does not end with the first post-secondary educational qualification. Young adults are returning to tertiary education either at universities or VET institutions to broaden their skills, update their knowledge, improve their chances of promotion, and/or to prepare for new careers. Consequently, transitions between education and employment are no longer linear with the initial transition from full-time education into full-time employment being replaced by various combinations of education and employment throughout life (Brzinsky-Fay and Solga 2016).

Discussion

Increasing levels of part-time employment and fixed-term and casual employment contracts have created more volatile labour markets and undermined the ability of young people to identify clear education-to-employment pathways. As opportunities for full-time employment diminish, young people are encouraged to continue studying for high-level educational qualifications and seek entry into the professions to improve their chances of gaining permanent full-time employment. However, as Kalleberg (2009, 2011) points out, precarious work is now endemic across the occupational spectrum, therefore, higher-level qualifications are not necessarily associated with better employment outcomes. As the restructuring of the labour market continues, preparing for the jobs of future, is a far more complex undertaking. The expansion of the higher education sector to accommodate the increased demand for university-educated workers has resulted in an oversupply of graduates and, as some would argue, credential inflation (Furlong et al. 2017; McLean and Rollwagen 2010; van de Werfhorst 2009). Thus, as an increasing proportion of the labour force attain university-level qualifications, entry into the higher status professions becomes more competitive and post-graduate study becomes more common. Therefore, it is timely for policymakers to reconsider their assumptions about the education-work nexus and to develop policies that will better prepare future cohorts of school leavers for the transition between full-time education and full-time employment.

Using data collected by the Life Patterns project in 2018, I examined the associations between education and employment outcomes for a cohort of young adults aged 30 years. Previous analyses of Life Patterns data show that although young people accept precarious employment during their extended educational careers, they expect to be employed on a full-time, permanent basis after completing their education (Cuervo and Wyn 2016). Furthermore, delays in attaining full-time permanent employment create uncertainty in other spheres of life, rendering it impossible to make plans for the future including entering into long-term relationships and the housing market (see Chesters and Cuervo 2019).

In this paper, I focussed on answering a series of research questions related to the labour market experiences of one cohort of young adults. The results of the analysis conducted to answer the first research question, ‘What is the association between educational qualification and employment status?’, indicate that level of education is not associated with having a permanent full-time job, net of gender, and marital status. Although level of education had no effect on employment status, women were more likely than men to be employed part-time, either in a permanent or non-permanent job, or to be not employed. In other words, at age 30, gender is a more important predictor of employment status than level of education. This finding has implications for the belief that Australia is a meritocracy in that regardless of education, women are disadvantaged in the labour market. This finding provides an avenue for further research.

The analysis conducted to answer the second research question, ‘What is the association between educational qualification and occupation?’, shows that, compared to those with no post-school qualifications, only those with post-graduate qualifications were more likely to be employed in a job directly related to their studies. Furthermore, those employed part-time were less likely to be employed in a job directly related to their field of study suggesting that at age 30, many young adults were still seeking full-time work in their chosen career. The results of the analysis conducted to answer the third research question, ‘Does a mismatch between educational qualification and occupation diminish perceptions of job satisfaction?’, show that those employed in a job directly related to their field of study reported higher levels of job satisfaction. This is more than likely due to the intrinsic rewards associated with being employed in a job associated with one’s career plan (Aronson et al. 2015).

Overall, the findings presented here suggest that young adults, particularly women, are taking advantage of employment opportunities, even if they are part-time and non-permanent and/or not directly related to their field of study, rather than be unemployed. The avoidance of unemployment is not just an important strategy for long-term employment trajectories, it also has immediate and long-term implications for wellbeing. As Jahoda (1981, 1988) notes, employment is not just about earning an income sufficient for sustaining life, employment provides opportunities for the satisfaction of five basic needs: social contact, structured time, engagement in regular activities, social status, and engagement in civic activities. Non-compliance with the prevailing social norm of being employed is associated with feelings of shame and inadequacy (Kalleberg 2011; Stam et al. 2016). The unemployed also lack opportunities to construct a life narrative around their work (Kalleberg 2011). Therefore, individuals continue to seek employment to fulfil these basic, non-pecuniary needs regardless of the financial rewards of being employed.

Although their belief in the mantra that higher levels of education facilitate better employment outcomes has not necessarily been rewarded, the willingness of young adults to undertake post-graduate degrees suggests an acceptance that continuing engagement with education is necessary for entry into, and maintenance of, careers. The inability of the labour market to generate sufficient permanent full-time jobs for the increasing proportion of the workforce with university-level qualifications (Furlong et al. 2017) has resulted in credential inflation. Employers are able to select the most highly qualified, those with postgraduate degrees, for entry-level jobs that were once available for graduates with 3- or 4-year Bachelor degrees. In 2017, 45% of women and 34% of men aged between 25 and 34 years had at least one university-level qualification suggesting that competition amongst graduates will intensify and the relative incomes of graduates may decline. Evidence from the UK shows that, over time, the relative incomes of recent graduates have declined as the proportion of the workforce with university-level qualifications increased (Elias and Purcell 2004; Maxwell and Broadbridge 2017).

Policy Implications

Currently, the Australian education system is focussed on levels of education rather than specific qualifications. Unlike the education systems in some European countries, the majority of Australian university students do not actually qualify for specific jobs at the end of their studies. In the less competitive labour market of the twentieth century, the completion of a bachelor degree facilitated entry into professional occupations. However, competition for graduate entry positions intensified in the first two decades of the twenty-first century and graduates are now encouraged to undertake Masters’ level degrees for entry into many professions. Credential inflation ensures a steady stream of university graduates will return to the education system to upgrade their educational qualifications or undertake study in a different field to facilitate their desired employment outcomes. Although on current trends, it would appear that undertaking a Master’s degree and specialising in a particular subfield in preparation for a specific job is a good strategy, the rapid pace of technological innovation may render specific skills obsolete within a decade or so. Having the ability to learn new skills and/or adapt existing skills to new employment opportunities may be more important than having any one particular skill. After successfully encouraging young people to invest in their employment futures by engaging with higher education, the onus is on governments to implement policies designed to ensure that all those who are seeking full-time employment are employed in stable, meaningful work commensurate with their qualifications.

Conclusion

Due to the rapid increase in the proportion of the workforce holding university-level educational qualifications, competition for highly skilled permanent employment opportunities has intensified. Consequently, the successful completion of university-level qualifications does not necessarily facilitate entry into permanent, full-time jobs. The future of work is not just a concern for those requiring an income, it is also a concern more broadly due to the non-financial benefits of employment including regular social contact, status attached to being employed, and being engaged in regular activity (Jahoda 1981, 1988). Therefore, rather than focus on the association between employment and incomes, policy makers may need to consider how to prepare future cohorts of young people for ongoing engagement with education systems to facilitate employment throughout the life course.