ELMI Policy Talk: It’s all about the money? – what really influences student’s study choices

Do the labour market prospects associated with education programmes matter to young adults’ study choices? Does career counselling help students to choose the most suitable careers for them? And can female role-models help to tackle the underrepresentation of women in male-dominated STEM programmes? The 4th ELMI Policy Talk on labour market prospects and study choices’ provided answers to these questions.

ELMI is the Network of European Labour Market Research Institutes, which was founded in October 2022. The network’s goal is to deepen multidisciplinary research-cooperation, exchange best practice on data-management and -access, and strengthen dialogue between scientists and practitioners. Through the “ELMI Policy Talk” format, researchers can regularly present their findings to an audience from science, politics and practice.

The 4th ELMI Policy Talk on labour market prospects and study choices was hosted virtually by the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) at Maastricht University. At the event, three speakers, who are all researchers at member institutions, presented their findings on young adults’ study choices.

Fourage: Expected wage and job prospects are crucial for students’ study choices

After a warm welcome from Annemarie Künn-Nelen, Associate Professor at ROA and chair of the session, Professor Didier Fourage, economist and Director of ROA, opened with his presentation on “Career guidance and study choice in vocational education: Do labour market prospects of education programmes matter?”

Fourage’s research shows that anticipated labour market outcomes such as wage- and job prospects strongly drive students’ choice of vocational education programmes: the better these prospects are, the more likely students are to consider them for their own career path.

However, young adults often appear to overestimate labour market prospects – especially of professions which they already consider to be particularly attractive. As a result, some students may choose a training path that does not meet – or only partially meets – their expectations in the long term. The study also finds that careers-advice services which provide appropriate information can help to correct young people’s false expectations – and thus help them choose a career which is more suitable for them.

Sandner: Careers counselling raises awareness of post-secondary education options beyond study at university

Following on from this, Dr Malte Sandner, researcher at the IAB, elaborated in more detail on careers counselling in his presentation “German career orientation study: career and study choices”. To this end, he evaluated the counselling services of the German Federal Employment Agency, which have been expanded since 2019 to include individual on-site coaching at schools.

Sandner’s research shows that more students seek advice when the counselling services were intensified. In addition, careers counselling actually has a significant impact on students’ education choices: students who receive individual on-site coaching are more likely to take a gap-year, i.e. to take a year off, and are less likely to enrol at university directly after school. Moreover, they tend to have a lower training work-load, be more satisfied with their educational choice and be less likely to drop out of their post-secondary education. Thus, the advice services of the Federal Employment Agency not only seems to raise awareness for post-secondary education options other than going to university, but also help young adults to make career choices that better suit their needs and abilities.

However, as many of the students decide to take a gap year, this could also suggest that the counselling service of the Federal Employment Agency – although helpful for some – does not necessarily eliminate students’ uncertainties regarding their future plans, but rather postpones their decision for another year. Consequently, there is still a need for the Federal Employment Agency to further expand its counselling services, especially for students that lack orientation after graduating from high school.

Breda: Female role-models can reduce – but also reinforce – gender stereotypes in STEM-professions

Thomas Breda, PhD, economist at the Paris School of Economics (PSE), gave the final presentation. Like the previous speakers, he dealt with the study- and career-choices of young adults, but focused in particular on the gender stereotypes that still prevail in “STEM” (science, technology, engineering and maths) professions: Can female role-models help to reduce prejudices against women in STEM and thus encourage more girls to start a career in these professional fields?

For this purpose, he evaluated the programme “For Girls in Science”, which was launched in 2014 by the L’Oréal Foundation to encourage girls to explore STEM career paths. As part of the programme, 56 females working in STEM visited French high schools to share their personal experience and career path with Grade-12 students. Half of these women were young female scientists – either PhD candidates or postdoctoral researchers at universities or research institutions; the other half were young female professionals in the R&D department of L’Oréal.

Breda found that the programme succeeded in removing stereotypical perceptions of women in STEM. Moreover, it resulted in high-achieving girls being more likely to enrol in male-dominated STEM programmes in college.

However, if the participating scientist focused too much on women’s underrepresentation in STEM without also managing to convey a positive image of female careers in science, the programme unintentionally reinforced students’ stereotypical misbeliefs – and thus missed the mark. Whether female scientists can act as positive role-models for women is therefore also a question of communication.

Save the date: The second ELMI conference will take place on 1 and 2 October 2024 in Brussels

After Breda’s presentation, Professor Bernd Fitzenberger, Director of the IAB, concluded by emphasising that further steps are necessary to completely eliminate gender differences in the labour market in general, and in science in particular. With this in mind, he invited the speakers and the audience to the 2nd ELMI Conference which will take place in Brussels on 1 and 2 October 2024. Not only will the conference pick up the topic of labour market prospects and study choices, but will also host policy sessions on “Mobility and Migration”, “Demographic Change & Participation”, and “Transformation & Future of Work”. A panel discussion will also debate the question, “Does the EU provide the conditions we need for a strong and resilient European labour market?”.

On that positive future note, the host Annemarie Künn-Nelen closed the session and sent participants away with new insights into young adults’ choices of career and study.

Picture: Studio Romantic/stock.adobe.com

DOI: 10.48720/IAB.FOO.20240905.03