Graduate Labor Mismatch in Poland

This paper investigates education-labor mismatch for university graduates in Poland using the HEGESCO survey. Mismatch refers to the level of discord between the job performed by an individual and its education and skills. We evaluate three different dimensions of mismatch: vertical (under-/overeducation), horizontal (wrong field of study for the job performed), and skills mismatch (under-/overskilled). We discuss our results in the light of the large increase in the demand for tertiary education as well as in the number of tertiary education institutions that occurred in Poland after the transition process from communism to market economy.