Competencies of higher education graduates in Russia (case of the Volgograd region)

Bydanova L., Post-doctorate, IREDU

Survey among graduates: sampling design

2,000 graduates, level ISCED 5 (« Bac +5 »), 4 - 5 years after graduation;

Volgograd State University (Human and Social sciences, Exact Sciences)

Key question:

Competencies

What competencies are required on the graduate labour market in Russia?

How higher education contributes to developping of required competencies?

Russia: economy in transition

1990: Move from a planning economy to a free market one

1990 – 1998 : Economic crise

PIB : - 38 %; Employment rate : - 12 %

1999 - 2005: Economic revivalAverage annual PIB increase: 6 % (1999 – 2004)

Decrease in unemployment: from 7,059 thousands to 5,208 thousands (2000 – 2005)

Graduate Labour Market in Europe

Demand for a “Flexible Professional” with 4 areas of competence: Professional expertise; Functional flexibility; Innovation and knowledge management; Mobilisation of human resources.

European survey(« Careers of Higher Education Graduates (CHEERS) » project, 1998; 11 countries of EU and Japan, 35,000 graduates)

… and in Russia ?

What competencies are required on the Russian labour market?

Hypothesis: Like in the countires of the EU,

the expert knowledge is not the only and the most

demanded competence. There is a need for a larger set

of competencies.

CompetenciesKS - mastery of your own field or discipline,

GK - knowledge of other fields and disciplines,

ATH - analytical thinking

ANK - ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge,

N - ability to negotiate effectively,

ST - ability to perform well under pressure,

NP - alertness to new opportunities,

M - ability to coordinate activities,

MT - ability to use time effectively,

WG - ability to work productively with others,

MO - ability to mobilize the capacities of others,

A - ability to assert your authority,

EY - ability to use computers and the internet,

NI - ability to come up with new ideas and solutions,

QI - willingness to question your own and other’s ideas,

PP - ability to present products, ideas or report to an

audience,

WR - ability to write reports, memos and documents,

FL - ability to write and speak in a foreign language.

European survey:

“The Flexible Professional in the

Knowledge Society. New Demands on

Higher Education in Europe”

(“REFLEX”)

Competencies required on the labour market

KS - mastery of your own field or discipline,

GK - knowledge of other fields and disciplines,

ATH - analytical thinking

ANK - ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge,

N - ability to negotiate effectively,

ST - ability to perform well under pressure,

NP - alertness to new opportunities,

M - ability to coordinate activities,

MT - ability to use time effectively,

WG - ability to work productively with others,

MO - ability to mobilize the capacities of others,

A - ability to assert your authority,

EY - ability to use computers and the internet,

NI - ability to come up with new ideas and solutions,

QI - willingness to question your own and other’s ideas,

PP - ability to present products, ideas or report to an audience,

WR - ability to write reports, memos and documents,

FL - ability to write and speak in a foreign language.

KSGK

ATHANK

NST

NPM

MTWG

MOEYAIL

NIQI

PPWR

FL

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

KS

ATH

N

NP

MT

MO

A

NI

PP

FL

Competencies required in current employment (graduates’ assessment)

Scale: 1 (not important) - 7 (very important), N = 290

Role of non-cognitive competencies

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Cognitive competencies Non-cognitive competencies

Evidence from international research: Non-cognitive competencies are of high importance for professional success (Bowles, Gintis et Osborne, 2001, Heckman, Stixrud & Urzua, 2006, Postleweite

& Silverman, 2006, Suleman et Paul, 2006, Blanden, Gregg, Macmillan, 2006)

Coefficients of importance of competencies in employment

Name of competence

Cluster name Coding name

ability to negotiate effectively ability to present products, ideas or report to an audience ability to express own ideas

Capacity of effective communication

negot

ability to perform well under pressure ability to use time effectively

Capacity to be ‘executive’ at work spos

ability to coordinate activities ability to work productively with others ability to mobilize the capacities of others ability to assert your authority

Capacity to work in a group group

ability to write reports, memos and documents ability to use computers and the internet ability to write and speak in a foreign language

Applied skills umen

Monetary returns to competencies,other than ‘knowledge in field’

Monetary returns to competencies:other than ‘knowledge in field’

Estimated coefficients of competencies in regression on revenue

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Coef. Sign. Coef. Sign. Coef. Sign.

(constante) 8333,960 ,000 7179,548 ,000 6448,935 ,003 negot ,263 ,002** ,196 ,010

group -,177 ,042* -,117 ,144

umen ,110 ,103 ,060 ,340

spos -,085 ,251 -,065 ,349

sex ,277 ,000 ,269 ,000

private ,265 ,000 ,247 ,000

Moscou ,147 ,009 ,125 ,035

R2adj. 0.047 0.198 0.214 Sign. 0.003 0.000 0.000

Legend: NEGOT - Capacity of effective communication, SPOS - Capacity to be ‘executive’ at work, GROUP - Capacity to work in a group , UMEN - Applied skills, Sex – being male, Private – work in the private sector, Moscow – work in Moscow N= 270

Flexibility: impact on earningsEstimated coefficients of flexibility variables in regression on income

Model :

y = Lg (Revenue)

Model : y = Lg (Revenue)

Variable Coef. Sign. Coef. Sign. Reference category : exclusively own field Intercept 8531,617 ,000 6757,511 ,000 kfcc2 (in field, near field, other field)

,284*** ,000 ,212*** ,000

kfcc3 (near field)

-,003 ,970 -,034 ,592

kfcc4 (near field, other field)

,196*** ,002 ,154*** ,009

kfcc5 (other field) -,039 ,500 -,030 ,566

kfcc6 (no particular field) ,157 ,018 ,082 ,184 sex ,246 ,000 private ,232 ,000 Moscou ,157 ,004 R2adj. 0.097 0.253 Sign. 0.000 0.000

Conclusion 1

Knowledge in field is far from being the only and the most demanded competence on the labour market.

Role of higher education in developping the required competencies

Rating of competencies developed at highest and lowest extent during higher education studies

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s

competencies developed at high extent

competencies developed at low extent

a) Knowledge in field, b) knowledge in other fields, c) analytical thinking d) acquire new knowledge, e) negotiate effectively, f) resistance to stress, g) alertness to new opportunities, h) manage, i) use time effectively, j) work in group, k) mobilize the capacities of others, l) express own indeas, m) assert your authority, n ) use computers and the Internet, o) ability to come up with new ideas, p) willingness to question ideas, q) report to an audience, r) ability to write reports, s) foreign language proficiency.

Legend: x – competencies; y - % of graduates who ranked a given competence as highly developed through university studies

Conclusions

Knowledge in field is far from being the only and the most demanded competence on the labour market.

Higher education institutions should pay more attention to developing a wide range of other competencies

Competencies required in current employment by occupational groups

Competencies required from graduates working as "Managers"

KSGK

ATHANK

NST

NPM

MTWGMO

EYA

ILNI

QIPP

WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

AN

NP

WG

A

QI

FL

Competencies required from graduates working as "Experts"

KSGK

ATHANKN

STNPM

MTWGMO

EYAIL

NIQIPP

WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Competencies required from graduates working as "Administrative

and technical staff"

KSGK ATHANKNSTNPMMTWGMOEYAILNIQIPP WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Competencies required from graduates working in "Other"

occupations

KS GKATHANKN STNPM MTWGMO EYA

ILNIQI PP WRFL

0 2 4 6 8

KS

N

MT

A

PP

Scale : 1 (very low) – 7 (very high)

Monetary returns to competencies

International research: Workers using computers earn an average premium

of 20 %, compared to those who do not use computers at all » (Green, 1998, Great Britain)

Cognitive skills and strategic skills bring a 3 % increase in salary and a premium of 11-16 % in profit sharing in a banking sector in Portugal (Suleman & Paul, 2006)

Research in Russia: No studies known on this topic

Monetary returns to competencies: difference across sectors

Estimated coefficients of competencies in regression on salary in the public sector and in the private sector

Model : y = ln (Salaire) in the public sector

Model : y = ln (Salaire) in the private sector

Variable Coef. Sign.| Coef. Sign.| Intercept 9.05596 <.0001 8.73971 <.0001

know -0.02380 0.6932 0.03311 0.4862

negot -0.08732 0.1570 0.10465 0.0285

group 0.12469 0.0483 -0.01960 0.7282

new 0.07799 0.2764 0.06739 0.3478

umen -0.08077 0.1033 0.04275 0.2912

spos -0.06424 0.1696 -0.12181 0.0030

ATH -0.01401 0.8071 -0.03526 0.4454

Adj R-Sq 0.0048 Adj R-Sq 0.1440 Pr > F 0.3795 Pr > F 0.0032

Legend: KNOW - Specific and general knowledge NEGOT - Capacity of effective communication NEW - Capacity to deal with the ‘new’ SPOS - Capacity to be ‘executive’ at work GROUP - Capacity to work in a group UMEN - Applied skills ATH - Analytical thinking