Research lines

The Education and Labour Market Project is a very important research project within the Dynamics of the Labour Market programme. This project focuses in particular on the match between education and occupation, the substitution processes in the labour market, and the labour market perspectives for more than 100 educational programmes and occupations. Based on a wide variety of data, the forecasts are differentiated by education and occupation. These forecasts take medium-term developments of employment, replacement demand, and the influx of school-leavers into the labour market into account. The results of this project are published every other year in a report entitled The Labour Market by Education and Occupation. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the National Employment Office (CWI), the Employed Persons Insurance Administration Agency (UWV), the Association of Centres of Expertise on Vocational Education, Training and the Labour Market (COLO), the Council for Work and Income (RWI), Randstad Nederland and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Coordinator Dynamics of the Labour Market research line: Dr. Frank Cörvers

Education and occupational career

The focus of the second programme is twofold. It studies the development of competences during education and the transition from school to work, as well as the subsequent occupational careers. Within this framework, a large-scale survey among school-leavers and graduates who entered the labour market is carried out annually. These surveys cover the entire spectrum of education and are considered the most influential data source on school-to-work transitions in the Netherlands. The data obtained are used by Ministries and other relevant organisations (such as the Higher Vocational Education Council and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands). The data also play an important role in the quality assurance and accreditation of individual educational institutes.
In addition to the national graduate surveys, ROA also coordinates large-scale international surveys. An example is the so-called REFLEX Project, which focuses on the competences required in the knowledge economy and on the extent to which higher education provides a good basis to develop these competences.

Besides the main focus on transition research, this ROA programme also takes a wider life-course perspective. It analyses educational careers, competence development in education and its relation with programme characteristics as well as long term outcomes of education on occupational careers, and their effects on other domains of the life-course.

Coordinator Education and Occupational Career research line: Prof. Dr. Rolf van der Velden

Training and employment

The relationship between developments in the labour market on the one hand, and the acquisition of qualifications and skill obsolescence in workers, job-seekers and non-participants on the other, is the research focus of the Training and Employment programme. This development of human resources is analysed from the perspective of both employees and employers. From the employees’ point of view, the relationships between human capital development and wages, job satisfaction and mobility are studied. From the employers’ perspective, productivity, returns to training investments and the substitutability of educational groups are analysed. Also the Human Resource practices that organisations use to improve the productivity of their workforce are considered in the research. Specific areas of interest include industry studies, apprenticeships, job-worker mismatches, technology and training, training and retirement, informal learning, skill obsolescence, employability, labour market segmentation and Human Resource Management. Research has been conducted in several economic sectors, such as the metal and electronics industries, pharmacies and call centres.

Coordinator Training and Employment research line: Prof. Dr. Andries de Grip

Fundamental research

Fundamental research projects are set up by ROA, often in the form of PhD and postdoc studies, supporting the subsidised and contract research carried out within the three research lines. For a number of PhD studies, funding was obtained from NWO and also from METEOR.
Since ROA’s research is part of the research programmes of the SBE, ROA publications are included in the SBE’s reports and also assessed as part of the official research audits. The links with the SBE enables ROA to benefit from the facilities of the research school METEOR. On the basis of their scientific publications, several ROA staff members have been appointed as fellows of METEOR.
 
Coordinator fundamental research programme: Prof. Dr. Thomas Dohmen

For more information on ROA and research possibilities, please contact the coordinator concerned.