Employment probability of college graduates: The role of college and student factors

The empirical analysis of factors that affect college graduates' employment is necessary not only to provide practical information for students and universities, but also to assist policymakers in making decisions about educational and human resource policies. In this study, we examine contributing factors that affect college graduates' likelihood of being employed. In particular, we estimate the degree of variance in college graduates' employment that can be attributed to college-level factors using multi-level data provided by EduData Service System (EDSS) in Korea. Findings indicate that male students majoring in the areas of medicine or engineering and who obtain state-authorized certificates and have study-abroad experiences have a higher probability of being employed. The estimation of intra-class correlation coefficient also indicates that 23.3 percent of the probability of college graduates' employment can be attributed to college factors. When unobserved college factors alone, such as colleges' efforts to support their students' employment, are taken into account, 14.8 percent of employment is still attributable to college-level factors. These findings have clear implications for the role of colleges in improving their graduates' job market performance.