Educational mismatches for second generation migrants. An analysis of applied science graduates in the Netherlands

Figures & data

Table 1. Theories on educational mismatches for migrants.

Theory	Migration	Migrant group
Human capital	Human capital cannot be perfectly transferred across borders.	First generation
Job search	Search and adjustment process is more difficult for migrants.	First generation
Screening	A foreign diploma is an imperfect signal. Educational mismatches may be due to differences in unobserved ability.	First and second generation
Ethnic penalty	Migrants need a higher education for the same job to counter the disadvantaged position. The disadvantaged position could be caused by discrimination, unobserved differences between natives and migrants, or structural and institutional constraints	First and second generation.

Table 2. Incidence of mismatches.

	Total		Dutch		Western migrants		Non-western migrants
	Obs.	%	Obs.	%	Obs.	%	Obs.	%
No mismatch	52,243	63.79	48,420	64.55	1,899	58.16	1,924	52.97
Horizontal mismatch	9,066	11.07	8,070	10.76	490	15.01	506	13.93
Vertical mismatch	9,486	11.58	8,794	11.72	337	10.32	355	9.77
Double mismatch	6,943	8.48	6,196	8.26	326	9.98	421	11.59
Unemployed	4,166	5.09	3,527	4.70	213	6.52	426	11.73

Table 3. Multinomial logit regression results, average marginal effects.

	Type of mismatch
	(1) No	(2) Horizontal	(3) Vertical	(4) Double	(5) Unemployed
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.028***	0.018**	−0.008	0.006	0.012**
	(0.008)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.005)	(0.004)
Non-western migrant	−0.053***	0.008	−0.028***	0.016***	0.057***
	(0.008)	(0.005)	(0.005)	(0.005)	(0.005)
Age	−0.013***	0.006***	−0.005***	0.006***	0.005***
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.000)
Gender
Male	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Female	−0.033***	−0.011***	0.028***	0.014***	0.001
	(0.004)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.002)	(0.002)
GPA	0.029***	−0.001	−0.010***	−0.013***	−0.005***
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Highest education
General sec. education	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Pre-university sec. education	0.025***	0.002	−0.009**	−0.012***	−0.006**
	(0.005)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.002)
School-/Work-based sec. vocational education	0.026***	−0.023***	0.036***	−0.028***	−0.012***
	(0.004)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.002)	(0.002)
Higher vocational education	0.060***	−0.014*	−0.012*	−0.025***	−0.009*
	(0.009)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.005)	(0.004)
Other	0.039*	0.000	−0.003	−0.030***	−0.006
	(0.016)	(0.011)	(0.011)	(0.008)	(0.007)
Experience during study
Other (Yes)	0.034***	−0.007**	0.009***	−0.026***	−0.011***
	(0.003)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)
Student/Board committee (Yes)	0.021***	0.014***	−0.022***	−0.005	−0.008***
	(0.004)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.002)
Education abroad (Yes)	−0.010	0.018***	−0.020***	−0.003	0.015***
	(0.007)	(0.004)	(0.005)	(0.004)	(0.003)
Internship abroad (Yes)	0.000	0.006	−0.003	−0.007*	0.003
	(0.005)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.003)	(0.002)
Internship in the Netherlands (Yes)	0.035***	0.002	−0.026***	−0.008	−0.003
	(0.008)	(0.005)	(0.007)	(0.005)	(0.004)
Year FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sector FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Regional FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Observations	77,781	77,781	77,781	77,781	77,781

Robust standard errors in parentheses, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01,*p < 0.05

Table 4. Multinomial logit regression results by gender, average marginal effects.

	Type of mismatch
	(1) No	(2) Horizontal	(3) Vertical	(4) Double	(5) Unemployed
	Men
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.019	0.024**	−0.009	0.001	0.003
	(0.012)	(0.008)	(0.008)	(0.007)	(0.006)
Non-western migrant	−0.032*	0.000	−0.027**	0.021***	0.037***
	(0.013)	(0.009)	(0.009)	(0.006)	(0.005)
Observations	32,951	32,951	32,951	32,951	32,951
	Women
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.031**	0.012	−0.006	0.008	0.017***
	(0.011)	(0.006)	(0.008)	(0.006)	(0.005)
Non-western migrant	−0.047***	0.017**	−0.030***	0.016**	0.045***
	(0.010)	(0.006)	(0.008)	(0.006)	(0.004)
Observations	44,830	44,830	44,830	44,830	44,830

Robust standard errors in parentheses, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01,*p < 0.05.

In both specifications we furthermore control for age, GPA, highest education achieved, experiences during study, Year FE, Sector FE, and Regional FE.

Table 5. Multinomial logit regression results for ethnic migrant groups, average marginal effects.

	Type of mismatch
	(1) No	(2) Horizontal	(3) Vertical	(4) Double	(5) Unemployed
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.028***	0.018**	−0.008	0.006	0.012**
	(0.008)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.005)	(0.004)
Antillean	−0.045	0.037	−0.033*	0.001	0.040*
	(0.0281)	(0.020)	(0.016)	(0.016)	(0.009)
Surinamese	−0.066***	0.018	−0.017	0.018*	0.047***
	(0.015)	(0.010)	(0.009)	(0.009)	(0.009)
Moroccan	−0.064**	−0.006	−0.038***	0.023	0.085***
	(0.019)	(0.012)	(0.011)	(0.012)	(0.014)
Turkish	−0.039*	0.001	−0.050***	0.015	0.074***
	(0.016)	(0.011)	(0.009)	(0.010)	(0.012)
Other non-western migrant	−0.048***	0.001	−0.014	0.015	0.046***
	(0.014)	(0.009)	(0.010)	(0.009)	(0.009)
Year FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sector FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Regional FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Observations	77,781	77,781	77,781	77,781	77,781

Robust standard errors in parentheses, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01,*p < 0.05

We control for age, GPA, highest education achieved, experiences during study, Year FE, Sector FE, and Regional FE

Table 6. Multinomial logit regression results before and after the economic crisis, average marginal effects.

	Type of mismatch
	(1) No	(2) Horizontal	(3) Vertical	(4) Double	(5) Unemployed
	Pre-Crisis (2006-2008)
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.034*	0.018	−0.005	0.005	0.016*
	(0.014)	(0.010)	(0.009)	(0.007)	(0.006)
Non-western migrant	−0.030*	0.022*	−0.024**	0.005	0.028***
	(0.014)	(0.010)	(0.008)	(0.008)	(0.007)
Observations	24,693	24,693	24,693	24,693	24,693
	Crisis (2009-2014)
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.024*	0.017*	−0.010	0.006	0.011*
	(0.010)	(0.007)	(0.007)	(0.006)	(0.005)
Non-western migrant	−0.062***	0.001	−0.031***	0.021***	0.070***
	(0.010)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.007)
Observations	53,088	53,088	53,088	53,088	53,088

Robust standard errors in parentheses, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01,*p < 0.05

In both specifications we furthermore control for age, gender, GPA, highest education achieved, experiences during study, Year FE, Sector FE, and Regional FE

Table 7. Multinomial logit regression results reduced equation, average marginal effects.

	Type of mismatch
	(1) No	(2) Horizontal	(3) Vertical	(4) Double	(5) Unemployed
Migrant background
Dutch native	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Western migrant	−0.058***	0.039**	−0.013*	0.015**	0.016**
	(0.009)	(0.006)	(0.006)	(0.005)	(0.004)
Non-western migrant	−0.092***	0.030	−0.022***	0.024***	0.059***
	(0.008)	(0.006)	(0.005)	(0.005)	(0.005)
Age	−0.014***	0.006***	−0.001***	0.005***	0.005***
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.000)
Gender
Male	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.	Ref.
Female	−0.051***	−0.030***	0.060***	0.017***	0.003*
	(0.003)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)
Year FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sector FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Regional FE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Observations	81,627	81,627	81,627	81,627	81,627

Robust standard errors in parentheses, ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01,*p < 0.05

Table A1. Frequencies of control variables by migrant background.

	Total		Dutch		Western migrants		Non-western migrants
	Obs.	%	Obs.	%	Obs.	%	Obs.	%
Mismatch
No	52,243	63.79	48,420	64.55	1,899	58.16	1,924	52.97
Horizontal	9,066	11.07	8,070	10.76	490	15.01	506	13.93
Vertical	9,486	11.58	8,794	11.72	337	10.32	355	9.77
Double	6,943	8.48	6,196	8.26	326	9.98	421	11.59
Unemployed	4,166	5.09	3,527	4.70	213	6.52	426	11.73
Age (average)	81,734	24.89	74,849	24.84	3,261	25.55	3,624	25.37
Gender
Male	34,243	41.87	31,506	42.07	1,362	41.74	1,375	37.87
Female	47,541	58.13	43,384	57.93	1,901	58.26	2,256	62.13
Grade (average)	79,762	24.89	74,849	24.84	3,261	25.55	3,624	25.37
Highest educational level before
General sec. education	42,447	51.87	38,861	51.85	1,741	53.34	1,845	50.85
Pre-university sec. education	12,670	15.48	11,851	15.81	541	16.57	278	7.66
School-/Work-based secondary education	22,480	27.47	20,305	27.09	808	24.75	1,367	37.68
Higher vocational education	3394	4.15	3,165	4.22	141	4.32	88	2.43
Other	847	1.03	764	1.02	33	1.01	50	1.38
Experience during study
Other (Yes)	40,975	50.08	37,629	50.22	1,628	49.97	1,718	47.34
Student/Board Committee (Yes)	14,646	17.90	13,539	18.07	540	16.57	567	15.62
Education abroad (Yes)	5,486	6.70	4,808	6.42	333	10.22	345	9.51
Internship abroad (Yes)	13,334	16.30	12,104	16.15	654	20.07	576	15.88
Internship in the Netherlands (Yes)	77,959	95.31	71,538	95.50	3,021	92.7	3,400	93.72

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (Maastricht University). Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for this study. Data are available from the authors only with permission of the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (Maastricht University).