Polish higher education has gone through three decades of spontaneous changes and governmental reforms. However, after this transformation—driven by skyrocketing aspiration and facilitated by the growth of new institutions, modes of studies, and programs—graduates are still regarded as a fairly homogeneous group despite their diversity. A more nuanced view on how this expansion has affected the labor market outcomes of an increasingly diverse population in a high-participation system is imperative, as is a review of related policies.

The Polish mass higher education system, with almost 400 higher education institutions (HEIs) and hundreds of educational programs catering to over 1.3 million students, has become much more horizontally diversified, as well as vertically stratified, in the recent decades. However, despite these deep structural changes, the discussion around higher education is still largely organized around the traditional categories of attainment; namely, of primary, vocational, secondary, and higher levels of education. Such an approach is not only methodologically questionable but can also be politically misleading while talking about the economic premium for education. It also contributes to the growing criticism of higher education in Poland in the popular media, fueled by anecdotal evidence of disappointed graduates who are stuck in poorly paid jobs.

We argue that to better comprehend the economic role of higher education, namely in terms of graduates’ labor market outcomes, one should acknowledge the considerable diversity of higher education graduates across institutions, programs, and fields of science, as well as in time. To support our claim, which is based on earlier studies and available data, we identified three major variables potentially differentiating the graduates’ situation in the labor market: (a) the level of study (bachelor/master/long-cycle five-year program); (b) the type of HEI, and (c) the field of study. We use data collected by the Polish Graduate Tracking System (known as ELA) on students who graduated in 2016 with a sample of 343,088 graduates, i.e., between 93 and 97 percent of graduates depending on the level of studies (bachelor, master, or long-cycle program).

We argue that Polish higher education policy largely fails to recognize the complexity and diversity of the situation of higher education graduates, which typically leads to problematic policies regarding the higher education sector. Higher education policy should consider a more nuanced approach to higher education graduates in order to make decisions regarding publicly funded education more accurate and effective.

What Affects the Economic Situation of Higher Education Graduates?

Polish higher education has been a subject of strong criticism regarding graduates’ labor market outcomes amid its rapid expansion and against the background of internal multidimensional diversity. So, it is important to demonstrate what factors affect the economic situation of higher education graduates and how.

First, the level of studies strongly impacts graduates’ earnings over the period of five years after graduation. Shortly after graduation all types of higher education graduates in our sample reported a salary considerably below the average salary in the economy: bachelor degree holders earned 59.1 percent of the average salary in the economy, five-year program graduates earned 63.1 percent, and master degree holders earned 70 percent. Subsequently, the economic situation of higher education graduates improved with every year in the labor market regardless of degree level, even though the premium for education was distributed unequally. After this period, five-year program graduates were earning a salary around 111 percent of the average salary, followed by master degree holders (94 percent) and bachelor degree holders (84 percent). It should be noted that these long-cycle programs (including law, veterinary, medicine, and psychology) are highly selective and demanding. All of them also require some type of apprenticeship before fully entering the labor market. This thus represents the premium for a longer and more demanding education and is also reflected in a lower unemployment rate.

Second, the type of HEIs likewise influences the economic situation of graduates, thus reinforcing the need for a more nuanced and fine-grained approach, rather than blunt and often unfair critiques of the economic benefits of higher education. The higher education system in Poland consists of both public institutions (which are fee-free) and private institutions (which are fee-based). Data shows that, shortly after graduation, the alumni of private HEIs initially earn higher salaries, but the trend reverses after three years.

Third, the type of study program most significantly influences the situation of higher education graduates in the labor market. Polish higher education offers a broad spectrum of unique educational programs. For the purposes of our study, we classified them by fields. Our analysis shows that, after five years, the highest premium for education is reported for graduates of engineering and technological programs, natural sciences, and medical and health-related programs. The lowest salaries reported are for graduates of agricultural, theological, and arts programs. It is worth underscoring that the economic situation of graduates can be very different depending on their field of study. Furthermore, the gap between “high-earning” and “low-earning” programs only expands with time.

From Cultural to Economic Value of Education: The Consequences for Higher Education Policy in Poland

Our study provides compelling evidence that higher education graduates can no longer be treated as a single cultural category or as a vehicle for distributing social prestige. By presenting data from an extensive sample of over 300,000 higher education graduates in Poland, our analysis demonstrates that graduates are a highly diverse group and that old cultural labels are no longer relevant. This finding requires a shift in the policy narrative perspective, from cultural to economic, as the situation of higher education graduates varies not only shortly after they enter the labor market but also over time and at different speeds. Unfortunately, the discussion in Poland about the economic value of education remains a kind of taboo, and when opened, it provides a broadly negative and often misleading picture.

We suggest that, firstly, graduate employment conditions should be given greater attention in the policy narrative, as well as during policy agenda setting. Of course, the complex policy discussion about the value of education must not be narrowed only to economic returns, but it cannot ignore the fact that employability and earnings has become central for those enrolling in HEIs. Secondly, it is time for decision-makers in Poland to enact purposeful and well-informed policies in this regard that would take into account the growing diversity in higher education graduates’ labor market outcomes.

Dominik Antonowicz is professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland. E-mail: [email protected].

Jarosław Domalewski is assistant professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus University. E-mail: [email protected].