abstract: 'Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that

  those with a university qualification in science and technology (S\&T)

  enjoy favourable labour market outcomes.

  Design/methodology/approach - Analysis is based on individual-level data

  detailing the labour market experiences of Irish university graduates

  upon entering employment. A Gini-Hirschman index is used to estimate the

  number of occupational options open to graduates of a particular

  educational background. Additionally, an ordered probit model of

  earnings is estimated, which is controlling other factors, measures the

  effect of S\&T education on the distribution of earnings.

  Findings - S\&T graduates have a wider occupational domain.

  Additionally, tabulations indicate that on the whole they tend to earn

  more. Application of an ordered probit model controlling for other

  factors suggests that engineering graduates enjoy a clear earnings

  advantage; however the opposite appears to be the case for science

  graduates.

  Originality/value - The paper presents original insights into the

  occupational outcomes of Irish technical graduates. The relatively lower

  earnings of science graduates bring into question the current

  preoccupation with the supply side and suggest that a closer look at the

  demand for such skills may be warranted. These findings may be

  interesting for policy seeking to influence skill structure and for

  further studies investigating the returns to components of skill.'
affiliation: 'Pontikakis, D (Corresponding Author), European Commiss, IPTS, Joint
  Res Ctr, Seville, Spain.

  European Commiss, IPTS, Joint Res Ctr, Seville, Spain.'
author: Pontikakis, Dimitrios
author-email: dimitrios.pontikakis@ec.europa.eu
author_list:
- family: Pontikakis
  given: Dimitrios
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1108/01437720910988993
eissn: 1758-6577
files: []
issn: 0143-7720
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANPOWER
keywords: Employment; Education; Pay differentials; Training; Ireland
keywords-plus: IRELAND; INEQUALITY; FDI
language: English
number: '6'
number-of-cited-references: '50'
pages: 591-613
papis_id: b27a0eb559f075c2b9b643c50a5e4344
ref: Pontikakis2009occupationaldomain
times-cited: '0'
title: The occupational domain and initial earnings of recent Irish graduates Is a
  science and technology degree good for you?
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000271207500005
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '3'
volume: '30'
web-of-science-categories: Industrial Relations \& Labor; Management
year: '2009'