Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Borghans L.
Author-Name: Hughes G.
Author-Name: Smits W.
Author-workplace-name: ROA rm
Title: The Occupational Structure of Further and Higher Education in Ireland and the Netherlands
Abstract: Although most types of education give access to a range of occupations, the educational background determines to a large extent the labour market possibilities of a worker. However, since educational systems vary widely between different countries, there is a question about the specific role of each type of education in a country and the influence of the structure of the educational system as a whole on the relationship between education and the labour market. In this paper a comparison of the occupational structure of further and higher education in Ireland and the Netherlands is made. This comparison is based on a common occupational classification, which provides the possibility of measuring the extent of the occupational domains of types of education and the overlap in occupational domain of different types of education within each country and between both countries. The extent of the occupational domain and the similarities within a country provide information about aspects of the occupational structure of higher education in both countries, while the similarities between types of education in both countries make it possible to determine in a simple way the mutual position of types of education in the two countries. It is shown in the paper that since the Irish education system is more generally oriented than the Dutch system, Ireland has a broader occupational domain for similar types of further and higher education, on average, than the Netherlands. In addition the occupational domains for academics and technicians in Ireland have more overlap between different fields of study than in the Netherlands. Furthermore, despite the fact that the fraction of higher educated people in the Netherlands considerably exceeds the fraction in Ireland – which might result in some qualifications inflation – some types of education in Ireland, such as engineering and agricultural science, at higher levels seem to be closer to the Dutch intermediate vocational level than to the higher level. 
Keywords: education, training and the labour market; 
Series: Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 1997
Number: 003
File-URL: http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/objects/guid:68772f99-e94a-43d4-a788-58b488071fd8/datastreams/ASSET1/content
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 249112
Handle: RePEc:unm:umaror:1997003