The role of vocational specificity of educational credentials for labour market entry in Estonia and Slovenia

This article compares entry to their first stable employment among young people in Estonia and Slovenia after the fall of Communism, when the two countries opted for two different models with regard to the organization of their educational systems. Results show that in Slovenia with the passage of time after the start of reforms, education-job linkages among young school leavers have become stronger. Those with vocational credentials and tertiary education have been able to secure their first stable employment more quickly than the rest. Ultimate losers of the transformation in Slovenia appear to be school leavers without any vocational training, whose first job entry chances have significantly deteriorated. In Estonia, on the other hand, school leavers, irrespective of their educational qualifications, hardly differ regarding the speed of entry to their first significant employment. Neither those with vocational credentials at the lower-secondary level, nor university graduates have been able to secure their first stable employment more quickly than the least educated. The analyses are conducted on the basis of the Labour Force Survey ad hoc module on school-to-work transitions applying event history techniques.