Graduate unemployment in South Africa: social inequality reproduced

Abstract

In this study, I examine the influence of demographic and educational characteristics of South African graduates on their employment/unemployment status. A sample of 1175 respondents who graduated between 2006 and 2012 completed an online survey. Using binary logistic regression, the strongest determinants of unemployment were the graduates’ race, their socio-economic status and their year of their graduation. Surprisingly, the graduates’ field of study, level of study, marks obtained and whether or not they had received career guidance at their higher education institution did not significantly influence their employment/unemployment status. Of the employed graduates, 27% reported that they consider themselves to be underemployed. The results show the strong influence structural factors have on determining employment prospects of graduates and question the extent to which higher education institutions and graduate employers reproduce social inequality through their graduate recruitment services and practices.

Keywords:

• graduate unemployment
• career guidance
• higher education
• graduate recruitment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. In South Africa, race is reported using the categories Black African, Coloured, Indian/Asian and White. They are primarily used to denote historically disadvantaged and advantaged groups.

2. Statistics South Africa defines employed as those persons of working age who, during the reference week of the survey (a) did any work for at least one hour, or (b) had a job or business but were not at work. Unemployed are people of working age who (a) were not employed in the reference week of the survey, (b) actively looked for work or tried to start a business in the four weeks preceding the survey interview, and (c) were available to work, or (d) had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had a job or business to start a definite date in the future and were available.

3. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced in South Africa through legislation from 1948 to 1994. Under apartheid, the rights of the majority non-White South African’s were curtailed.