Despite the massive expansion of postgraduate education in many countries, few studies have been performed to examine the association between graduates possessing a master’s degree and their labour market outcomes. We therefore used panel survey data from the 2011 to 2013 Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey to analyse the effects of master’s degrees on wage levels and job satisfaction in South Korea, which has experienced a rapid expansion of postgraduate education. We found that master’s degrees are, overall, associated negatively with wage levels, but positively with job satisfaction. These effects, however, differed by discipline, with a master’s degree in a hard discipline being significantly associated with higher job satisfaction, but a master’s degree in a soft discipline being significantly associated with lower wages. We interpreted these results in light of the economic and social contexts of higher education and the labour market for graduates in Korea. Our results have policy implications at the national and institutional levels in terms of qualification frameworks, curricula, employability and institutional support for career development, with consideration for differences between disciplines.

中文翻译：

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大众化高等教育中硕士学位对工资和工作满意度的影响：以韩国为例

尽管许多国家的研究生教育大规模扩张，但很少有研究调查拥有硕士学位的毕业生与其劳动力市场结果之间的关系。因此，我们使用 2011 年至 2013 年毕业生职业流动性调查的面板调查数据来分析硕士学位对韩国的工资水平和工作满意度的影响，韩国经历了研究生教育的快速扩张。我们发现，总体而言，硕士学位与工资水平呈负相关，但与工作满意度呈正相关。然而，这些影响因学科而异，硬学科的硕士学位与更高的工作满意度显着相关，而软学科的硕士学位与较低的工资显着相关。我们根据高等教育的经济和社会背景以及韩国毕业生的劳动力市场来解释这些结果。我们的结果在资格框架、课程、就业能力和职业发展的制度支持方面对国家和机构层面的政策具有影响，同时考虑了学科之间的差异。