BE YOUR OWN BOSS, ANYONE? EARNINGS, EMPLOYMENT CHANCES AND JOB CHOICE OF FRESH UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
Abstract
Whether or not one can get employed, how much one can earn, and what types of job one gets are typically the main concerns of newly minted university graduates. In this study, we have collected data from fresh graduates of two public universities in Malaysia, i.e. on actual job choices that fresh graduates have made, their monthly earnings, and whether or not they are employed. With these data, our study contributes to the empirical literature and focuses on the issue of whether or not entrepreneurship education is significant in influencing earnings, employment probabilities, and types of job. The main conclusions from our findings are (i) graduate entrepreneurs’ monthly earnings are higher than graduates employed in qualification-mismatched jobs, but lower than those with qualification-matching jobs, (ii) graduates with entrepreneurship degrees earn less than those with non-entrepreneurship degrees, (iii) having an entrepreneurship degree has no significant influence on employment chances, and (iv) an entrepreneurship degree also is also insignificantly associated with any of the probabilities of landing a job that is either commensurate or incommensurate with one’s degree, or the probabilities of being unemployed.
Keywords: Employment Probability; Earning; Job Choice; Graduate Entrepreneur.
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