ABSTRACT

Graduate employability research typically focuses on young graduates’ entry to the labour market. Little is known about the careers of adults who attain higher education degrees in mid-life. This article explores Finnish University of Applied Sciences (UAS) Master’s degree graduates’ mid-career trajectories using retrospectively collected longitudinal survey data (N = 1025) on their employment relations, transitions and career breaks. The specific research questions are as follows: (1) What are the types of mid-career trajectories of the adult graduates with Finnish UAS Master’s degree? (2) What is the prevalence of the different career trajectories among the sample of graduates? (3) In what ways different career trajectories are able to take advantage of graduation with a Master’s degree? As a result, we recognised five types of mid-career trajectories: rising career, renewing career, entrepreneurial career, continuous career and unstable career. Adult degrees can re-orient and enhance different career trajectories, e.g. by providing formal qualifications, new expertise and entrepreneurial skills, as well as by validating prior experience. Understanding the nature of career trajectories of adult graduates at a Master’s level is interesting not only in the Finnish but also in the international context and this study opens up a rich array of opportunities for further studies.

摘要

毕业生就业能力研究通常侧重于年轻毕业生进入劳动力市场。对于中年获得高等教育学位的成年人的职业知之甚少。本文使用回顾性收集的有关雇佣关系，过渡和职业中断的纵向调查数据（N = 1025），探索了芬兰应用科学大学（UAS）硕士学位毕业生的职业中期轨迹。具体的研究问题如下：（1）拥有芬兰UAS硕士学位的成年毕业生的职业中期轨迹有哪些类型？（2）毕业生样本中不同职业轨迹的流行程度如何？（3）不同的职业轨迹可以通过哪些方式利用硕士学位毕业的机会？因此，我们认识到职业中期的五种类型：职业成长，职业更新，创业，连续职业和不稳定职业。成人学位可以例如通过提供正式的资格，新的专业知识和创业技能以及通过验证先前的经验来重新定向和改善不同的职业轨迹。不仅在芬兰，而且在国际背景下，了解硕士水平的成年毕业生的职业轨迹的性质都很有趣，这项研究为进一步的研究提供了很多机会。以及验证先前的经验。不仅在芬兰，而且在国际背景下，了解硕士学位的成年毕业生的职业轨迹的性质都是很有趣的，这项研究为进一步的研究提供了很多机会。以及验证先前的经验。不仅在芬兰，而且在国际背景下，了解硕士学位的成年毕业生的职业轨迹的性质都是很有趣的，这项研究为进一步的研究提供了很多机会。