The Psychosocial Consequences of Overeducation According to Entry-Level Employees
16. Uluslararası Balkan Eğitim ve Bilim Kongresi, Edirne, Türkiye, 15 - 17 Ekim 2025, sa.350, ss.55, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Edirne
- Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.55
- Trakya Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
When the increase in the supply of better-educated individuals in labor markets exceeds the increase in demand, the workforce becomes overeducated. Overeducation can essentially be considered a mismatch between job and employee, where the employee has been more educated than is required for the job. However, the literature has raised some doubts about whether overeducation can be easily interpreted as a job-employee mismatch. Accordingly, the phenomenon of overeducation, which has been observed for decades to have negative effects on individuals and society, has shaped the research agenda of many economists and social scientists. Economists first addressed the phenomenon from a human capital perspective, focusing on one of the potential consequences of overeducation: the diminishing economic returns to education. Sociological studies, on the other hand, have viewed overeducation as a form of qualification inflation, arguing that the educational qualifications required to find a job stem not from increasing technical requirements but from the fact that socialization is a hiring criterion in the dominant higher education culture. However, overeducation has potentially negative consequences for individuals, firms, and society more generally. Research in the literature has primarily focused on the economic consequences of overeducation, particularly its impact on employee wages. Furthermore, many studies have linked overeducation to variables such as job satisfaction and turnover. Research on the psychosocial consequences of overeducation is relatively scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the views of entry‐level employees on the psychosocial consequences of overeducation. This study will be conducted with a qualitative research and a phenomenological design. The study group, determined using criterion sampling, will consist of approximately 10–12 participants. The criteria are that the participants work in entry‐level jobs and are overeducated. The data are collected via interviews. A semi-structured interview form will be developed by the researchers. Interviews are conducted either face-to-face or online. Data obtained from the interviews will be analyzed using content analysis. Consequently, individuals' inability to utilize the educational competencies they have acquired over many years in the labor market not only causes financial problems but also psychosocial problems. This incompatibility between organization and member can lead to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, loss of self-efficacy, and dissatisfaction. Furthermore, overeducation can reduce an individual's subjective well-being. In short, overeducated employees performing jobs requiring less education than their qualifications can lead to feelings of cognitive dissonance, relative deprivation, or injustice, accompanied by social comparison processes.