Skills Deepening or Credentialism? Education Qualifications and Occupational Outcomes, 1996-2011

We look at the changes to the ‘quality’ of jobs obtained by persons with particular qualifications over the period 1996 to 2011, where quality is based on an index which ranks 400 or so occupations by the level of qualifications in the occupation, average income of those who are full-time employed or occupational status. The occupational structure has changed in a way to favour the ‘better jobs’, but this has been swamped by the expansion in educational qualifications with the result that the average quality of the job obtained by a person with a particular qualification is lower in 2011 than in 1996. The census data allow a detailed characterisation of qualifications with four levels – higher degrees, degrees, diplomas and certificates III/IV – and nine fields of study. The groups most affected by the decline in the quality of jobs obtained are those with a higher degree (particularly business and administration) and diploma (particularly education and health).