The influence of human capital factors, individual factors and study characteristics on graduates’ full-time employment and perceived overqualification

This thesis is about the extent to which human capital factors, individual factors and study characteristics influence employment outcomes and perceived overqualification among Australian university graduates. Using Graduate Outcomes Survey data, the study finds certain aspects of human capital (quality of courses, mode of study) and individual factors (gender, international/domestic student status) contribute significantly to graduates’ full-time employment while other factors (skills developed at university, socio-economic status and age) do not. Similarly, adaptive skills, part-time employment experience, SES, and age contribute significantly to graduates’ perceived overqualification. Its main contribution is the development of a more nuanced explanation of graduate employabilit