22 early career experience of young people leaving higher education

Nearly 25% of young people who left higher education in 2010 without obtaining a qualification were unemployed in 2013, as compared with 13% of all those who left at the same time. Occupational integration conditions on the labour market remained better for graduates with vocational qualifications than for those with non-vocational qualifications of an equivalent level.

In 2013, occupational integration conditions for young people who left higher education in 2010 varied widely depending on the level of education they had achieved, as well as the course and specialism they had studied. The ongoing repercussions of the economic crisis, in particular on the rate of unemployment, tended to magnify the initial differences recorded for previous generations between those with different levels of education. It was largely those without any qualifications and those with the lowest levels of qualification who were hit hardest by the worsening economic situation.

Those who left higher education without obtaining a qualification were the first to feel the effects. The rate of unemployment for this group increased sharply compared to that for the 2004 Generation, to such an extent that around one in four young people who were able to work were still unemployed three years after entering the labour market.

At Bac + 2 level (marking the successful conclusion of two years of higher education following the baccalauréat), the rate of unemployment varied between different types of qualification, ranging from 14% for those with higher technical certificates (Brevet de technicien supérieur – BTS) to 17% for those with university technology diplomas (Diplôme universitaire de technologie – DUT) (chart 22.01), but above all between different specialisms. Despite the economic crisis, those with specialist industrial qualifications enjoyed greater success on the labour market, benefiting from a lower rate of unemployment and better working conditions. Their level of employment was higher on average than that of those with specialist service sector qualifications, as were levels of pay.

At Bachelor’s degree (Licence) level, graduates with vocational qualifications benefited from better occupational integration conditions than their counterparts with general qualifications. They were less affected by unemployment (10% as opposed to 14%), better paid and on average held more stable and more highly skilled jobs (chart 22.02, chart 22.03, chart 22.04). However, in terms of the rate of unemployment, graduates with general scientific Bachelor's degrees more than held their own against their counterparts with vocational Bachelor’s degrees (Licences professionnelles – LP). The rate of unemployment remained marginal among those with a Bac + 2 or Bac + 3-level qualification in health and social care (2%), who were shielded from the effects of the uncertain economic climate by the regulatory nature of their target jobs.

At Master’s degree level, three years after graduates had left the education system the rate of unemployment ranged from 3% for those from engineering schools to 12% for those who had successfully completely a two-year Master’s degree. The rate of unemployment for graduates holding a Master’s degree awarded by a university varied from 10% for scientific specialisms to 16% for arts, humanities, languages and human sciences. Although at the time of the survey it was shown that having a Master’s degree rather than just a Bachelor's degree gave graduates an advantage in terms of employment conditions, this was not true of the rate of unemployment once the subjects studied by Master’s graduates became ‘less specialist’. When comparing equivalent specialisms, only graduates with Master’s degrees in law, economics and management enjoyed a lower rate of unemployment than that of their counterparts with general Bachelor's degrees.

After three years of working life and despite the economic crisis, the rate of unemployment among graduates with PhDs has not worsened. It was 6% in 2013, but varied from 2% for doctors of medicine to 10% for graduates with PhDs in the arts, humanities, languages and human sciences. Although the rate of stable employment among PhD graduates was lower than the average for those leaving higher education due to the unique nature of careers in research, their employment conditions were the best of the entire Generation, both in terms of their level of employment (96% were in managerial posts) and of pay (with a median monthly salary of €2,430).

Graduates who left higher education in 2010 with a vocational qualification were better paid than their counterparts with general qualifications of an equivalent level. In terms of specialisms, there was a higher level of pay among graduates of vocational courses in industry (such as BTSs, DUTs and LPs). Conversely, arts, humanities, languages and human sciences graduates at all levels were paid less than their counterparts with qualifications of an equivalent level in the sciences or in law, economics and management. This pay gap tended to widen as the level of education became higher (chart 22.05).

Boris Ménard