Empirical Analysis of Employees with Tertiary Education Occupational Imbalances

High percentage of graduates (among the highest in the world) with university degrees combined with unacceptably low level of utilization of acquired q ualifications and generally low quality of educatio n in the majority of Russian universities result in huge str uctural imbalances. The article presents quantitati ve estimates of disproportions between the educational levels of employees with higher education and thei r professional occupation for different branches of e conomy. A logit models based analysis is performed of how much the professional functions performed by employees match their professional qualifications, le vels of education and the extent to which their previous ly acquired expertise and skills are put into use. The sample used represents working population of Russia with tertiary education. The results obtained allo w to the conclusion that worst disproportions between ed ucation levels attained and job requirements are observed in trade and services sector, transport an d communications, housing and utilities, consumer g oods and food industries. The matters are compounded by inert and informationally inefficient labor market, incapable of sending proper signals to national sys tem of tertiary education.