Overeducation in Spain: description and critical review of the notion

Abstract

Overeducation has traditionally been studied in different ways, although none of them reflects the idea of overeducation correctly. In order to make our task easier, we have first distinguished between widespread overeducation, which is the consequence of social change towards modernity, and relative overeducation, which is the one we are interested in. Relative overeducation is always present and affects a minority of every occupational category (professional standing). In addition, we have also distinguished two kinds of relative overeduacation: debatable (unclear) and extreme or evident (obvious). Only the extreme kind (university graduates occupying a lower job) can strictly be called overeducation. According to this criterion, in 2003 the overeducated working population represented only a 2.1% of the general working population and a 3.2% of the young people who worked.