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In Chile as elsewhere, there are no direct measures of a university’s impact on learning, that is, the quality of education provided. Parents and prospective students, and university administrators, rely on various indirect measures, including student satisfaction. This paper assesses the satisfaction levels of graduates from two degree programs offered in three universities in Chile, focusing principally on the graduates’ perceptions of the quality of their training programs. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire of a sample of three cohorts of graduates in Psychology and in Teaching. Levels of satisfaction varied according to particular aspects of their degree program as influenced by prior education and later by employment. Global judgments of the quality of one’s degree program are influenced by work experience after graduation; judgments of curriculum and teaching practices pertain to what was experienced as a student or before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper looks at the economic returns to different fields of study in Ireland in 2004 and also the value placed on various job-related competencies, accumulated on completion of higher education, in the Irish labour market. In examining these issues, the paper also analyses, through quantile regression, how the returns vary across the earnings distribution. The impact that education-job mismatch, both education level and field, has on earnings is also taken into consideration. The results derived indicate that, relative to the base case, there are higher returns to Medicine & Veterinary, Education, Engineering & Architecture, Science and Computers & IT. Small but significant returns were found for some of the competencies analysed, in particular technical skills. The quantile regression analysis reveals that both field and competency returns vary across the wage distribution and that, apart from Medicine & Veterinary and technical skills, field and competency-specific returns diminish as one moves up the earnings distribution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite the large number of university graduates who use English as a second language at work, little is known about the language socialization process they undergo as new employees. The present paper addresses this gap by investigating how three recent Hong Kong graduates learned to use English for work and how they overcame their communication challenges. The three informants were all English majors who had not received training to work in any particular field and who had to learn the discursive and professional practices of a field new to them. It was found that they encountered difficulties with various non-specialist genres, and that the difficulties stemmed mainly from a lack of knowledge of their field and/or an inadequate level of English proficiency. It was also found that the graduates used various strategies to learn workplace communication and solve language-related problems, but that their vulnerable sense of professional identity sometimes prevented them from using some possibly more effective ways of overcoming communication challenges, such as seeking help from more experienced members of their community of practice. The paper has implications for language educators who want to help university students be better prepared for workplace communication in English after graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Using data from the 2018 Labor Force Survey, this paper analyzes wage differentials by field of study among Vietnamese university graduates. • Vietnam presents an especially interesting case for study because it's the post-secondary education system and labor market differ significantly from those of market economies and therefore offers some interesting cross-country comparisons. • In contrast to previous findings, we find that many fields, even more technically and quantitatively oriented disciplines, such as engineering, science/math/computer science and business/finance, afford lower earnings than do the arts/humanities disciplines. • Interestingly, our study find that earnings difference are larger for females than for male graduates. • Our results shed light on the value of various types of human capital represented by the various disciplines. Such findings have useful policy implications for policymakers and educational managers. Using data from the 2018 Labor Force Survey, this paper analyzes wage differentials by field of study among Vietnamese university graduates. In contrast to previous findings, we find that many fields, even more technically and quantitatively oriented disciplines, such as engineering, science/math/computer science and business/finance, afford lower earnings than do the arts/humanities disciplines. The differences are statistically significant and, in many cases, large, even after controlling for other individual and regional characteristics. Also, the differences are greater among female than among male graduates. Our results shed light on the value of various types of human capital represented by the various disciplines. Such findings offer useful policy implications for policymakers and educational managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Short-term attitudes toward teaching is prevalent in Sierra Leone. • The evidence shows that teaching is used as a survival strategy and short-term option for university graduates as they search for better jobs. • Short-termism is driven by a mismatch between graduates' desires and characteristics of the profession with respect to status, remuneration and training. • The implication is that physical presence in the classroom (or reduced absenteeism) does not equate to mental and emotional presence/commitment, which is essential for improving education quality. This paper focuses on teacher motivation, and links short-term attitudes and behaviour among teachers to education quality. Using Sierra Leone as a case study, the data shows an overwhelming tendency for university graduates to use the teaching profession as a short-term option or stepping-stone to more desirable career paths. The paper thus hypothesises that in cases where teaching is viewed and utilised as a temporary undertaking, such short-termism negatively affects teacher performance, and ultimately student outcomes. Taken together, the physical presence and educational level of teachers are necessary conditions, but emotional and mental presence and commitment are also crucial factors in improving education quality. The paper thus offers a new interpretation which links teacher motivation and education quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By considering heterogeneity in abilities and self-selection in educational choice, this paper adopts the heterogeneous human capital model to estimate rate of return to university education using data from the 1990 and 2000 Taiwan''s Manpower Utilization Surveys. The Taiwan empirical study shows that significant heterogeneous return to education does exist, and that the educational choice was made according to the principle of comparative advantage. The estimated rates of return for attaining university were 19% and 15%, much higher than the average rate of return of 11.55 and 6.6%, for 1990 and 2000, respectively. The declining trend of return to university education may have been caused by the rapid expansion of the number of colleges and universities and the increasing supply of college graduates in the 1990s. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]