Over-qualification in the workforce: Do Indigenous women and men benefit equally from high levels of education?

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 24. Returns to Education: Gender Inequality

Abstract

This study investigated the level of education-job mismatch (over-qualification, in particular) in the Canadian labour market among Indigenous women workers who received post-secondary education. Their rate of over-qualification was compared with that of Indigenous male counterparts. In doing so, this study aims to shed some lights on the effect of post-secondary education on labour market outcome. This study focused on the match between Indigenous women workers’ level of education and skills typically required for their job based on the 2016 Census. Compared to their non-Indigenous female counterparts and Indigenous men, Indigenous women workers with university level education (bachelor degree or higher) were less likely to be over-qualified; and Aboriginal workers with lower than university levels of education were more likely to be over-qualified. This pattern persisted after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Implications of the findings were further discussed.

Author

• Jungwee Park, Statistics Canada/University of Ottawa