Social and Economic Implications of Skill and Educational Mismatch

Dear colleagues,

This Special Issue of Social Sciences aims at bringing together the latest social scientific thinking and evidence on the relationship between skill and/or educational mismatch and social and economic outcomes. We strongly encourage submissions providing empirical evidence for countries in the Global South, and especially welcome empirical work discussing the policy implications of the results presented.

Educational expansion across countries has increased competition among workers, making educational qualifications a less powerful signal of the knowledge and skills people can bring into jobs. Workers holding the same educational credential might bring a different set of skills relevant for work that formal qualifications can hardly show at a first glance. This has made the measurement of skills –level and type - a key issue for academic and policy studies.

Even if the ongoing trend towards educational expansion in high-, middle- and low-income countries contributes to social and economic development, in many countries the supply of qualified and skilled workers has moved to a faster pace than its demand. This mismatch between the supply and demand of workers has led to undesired situations such as overqualification or skill shortages.

While many countries have witnessed a weakening in the relationship between social background and educational opportunities and outcomes, the subsequent transition from education to the labour market is still highly influenced by other factors beyond the qualifications and knowledge gained in formal education. Therefore, there is an urge for better understanding the social and economic inequalities resulting from skill and educational mismatch in the labour market across sociodemographic groups and countries.

We welcome abstracts of no more than 300 words by 30 November 2020. Notification of acceptance will be provided by 30 December 2020. Final papers are due on 30 June 2021 for peer review.

Dr. Queralt Capsada-Munsech
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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