The return to master’s degree in the Russian labor market

Abstract

Though master’s programmes are rapidly gaining attention from students, evidence concerning the labor market returns to master’s degree remains scarce. There is a widespread opinion that Russian employers can barely distinguish between graduates with bachelor’s and master’s degree making it unreasonable to pursue a graduate degree. This paper contradicts this opinion. Based on a unique administrative dataset about employment of Russian HEI graduates in 2020, this study reveals a significantly positive association between master’s degree acquisition and labour market outcomes one year after graduation. Master’s degree increases probability of employment by 3—8% in male sample and by 10—16% in female sample, respectively. Moreover, graduate degree is associated with a wage premium of 5—21% for females and 2—11% for males. Despite a short period of time passed after the Bologna reform, Russian labour market encourages having a graduate degree, though the size of the premium varies drastically between fields of study and types of university.