Work-Related Learning Practices of University Graduates: Scope and Determinants

Abstract

The article analyzes the scale of work-related learning of recent higher education graduates, describes its main practices, determines the factors of participation in training. The empirical analysis is carried out on data from the federal survey of Russian university graduates who completed their studies in 2016-2020. The sample consists of 9325 graduates. About a quarter of recent graduates participated in job-related training in their first year of work. The probability of work-related learning is higher for full-time graduates and for those who are employed as a specialist. It does not depend on whether the graduate works in his specialty or not. Important predictors of participation in work-related learning are the lack of professional skills and the importance of personal (individual) characteristics for successful work. The results showed that work-related learning acts as a tool to overcome the gap between the knowledge and skills that graduates have and the knowledge and skills necessary for the employer, mainly professional content. It was found that participation in work-related training practices is differentiated by qualification groups and by the scarcity of different types of knowledge and skills. On the one hand, formal learning and, on the other, mentoring and self-learning are interchangeable practices. Mentoring and self-learning are in many ways complementary practices of job-related training.