The Role of Education

This chapter assesses whether higher education within the four occupations performs as assumed according to the dominant discourse on graduate labour. The chapter aims to elucidate what the meaning and value of graduate education and university qualifications are within the four graduate occupations under investigation. The chapter examines how we can describe the meaning that higher education has within these occupations, whether the university degree functions as a credential, and to what extent higher education drives career progression. It shows that the significance of higher education differs between the occupations and tends to be overstated. Within a mass system of higher education, university credentials lose much of their value to employers and employees alike, certainly several years after graduation.