Vocational Education, Earnings and Job Satisfaction in Europe
Seamus McGuinness,
Lorcan Kelly,
Anne Devlin () and
Adele Whelan ()
Additional contact information
Lorcan Kelly: Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin
Anne Devlin: Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin
Adele Whelan: ESRI, Dublin
No 18134, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
Abstract:
This paper examines the earnings and job satisfaction of Vocational Education and Training (VET) graduates in the European Union (EU) using two definitions of vocational education: a self-reported definition and a more specific definition that incorporates work-based learning. The incidence of third-level VET falls from 74% to 29% under the stricter definition. Across the EU, the returns to vocational and academic qualifications are comparable for upper secondary, post-secondary and tertiary qualifications. Earnings premia vary between countries, with VET generating higher returns in just under one-third of all EU-28 members. Additionally, third level VET graduates enjoy higher levels of job satisfaction.
Keywords: work-based learning; european countries; job satisfaction; earnings; vocational education; on-the-job training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I26 J24 J30 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-eur and nep-lma
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