Instructional factors and over-education of university graduates

Abstract

[EN] The aim of this study is to test the role of the level of generic competences developed during University studies and the professional and practice orientation of instruction (PPOI) in the prediction of graduates’ initial vertical fit and change in vertical fit over an 8-year period. The study sample comprised 334 graduates who finished their degrees two years before they were interviewed for the first time (Time 1). Four and eight years later they were interviewed again (Times 2 and 3, respectively). All of them were employed at Times 1, 2 and 3. Hypotheses were tested by means of Latent Growth Curve Analysis. The results showed that only PPOI was positively and significantly related to graduates’ rate of change in vertical fit over time, meaning that the rate of change of graduates who received a more professional and practice-oriented instruction was faster than the rate of change of graduates who received a less professional and practice-oriented instruction.