Abstract:

The paper presents the results of a sample survey on the correlation of higher education supply with demand for specialists in the labor market.
The purpose of the paper is to identify the opportunities of finding a job when recently graduated and the ways to succeed in this approach. Moreover, the correlations between curricula and skills formation are studied.
The sample survey is conducted on recent graduates of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEAA), "Al. I. Cuza " University of Iasi, Romania. The data are analyzed using Multiple Response Analysis and Factorial Correspondence Analysis. Data processing is performed with SPSS software.
The results of the survey show that almost half of the graduates had a job while they were students. Presently, three quarters of the graduates have a job, but only a part of them are working accordingly to their training. The main ways of finding a job are: colleagues/friends/relatives, Internet, media and Jobs Fairs. Most of those who have a job are very well assimilated into the workplace, and they are highly and medium satisfied by their job. If we sum up the graduates whose jobs are not appropriate to their training and those who haven’t already found a job, we can say there is a surplus of economics graduates compared with the number of jobs available on the market.
Meanwhile, according to the graduates’ opinion, we note that curriculum largely covers fundamental, general and specialized knowledge. However, a weak point is the lacking of practical knowledge during University studies. The students’ opinion varies according to the students’ profile by residence area, family size, monthly income per family member, sex, and age.
This study highlights that economic higher education responds well to the labor market demand, and there are opportunities to improve matching theoretical with practical field.

Keywords:

sample survey, skills, multivariate statistical analysis.