Completion of a full-time degree programme and professional experience gained during the study period are the factors that enable young graduates to earn more at entry level positions. These conclusions have been drawn from the analysis of salaries earned by Polish graduates, which can be found in the nationwide system for monitoring the Electronic Life Trajectories of Graduates (Polish acronym: ELA). Thanks to subsequent editions of the portal, it will soon be possible to follow graduates’ life trajectories even for five consecutive years after graduation.
Salary data accumulated on the portal indicate that the difference in earnings between experienced students and those who did not take up any jobs during their study period will disappear in subsequent years. Researchers have also noted that graduates of Polish universities tend to earn ever more at the entry level.
Today, thanks to the ELA portal (ela.nauka.gov.pl), we can compare data on relative earnings with, e.g., average earnings in someone’s place of residence. We can also observe the dynamics of earnings in specific years after graduation and also see how graduates perform in the local labour markets.
Below is an example of the data on relative earnings of graduates from the second edition of the ELA project, presented in four groups:
- individuals who completed a full-time degree programme and did not work before graduation,
- individuals who completed a part-time degree programme and did not work before graduation,
- individuals who completed a full-time degree programme and worked before graduation,
- individuals who completed a part-time degree programme and worked before graduation.
Abstract
Completion of a full-time degree programme and professional experience gained during the study period are the factors
that enable young graduates to earn more at entry level positions. The difference in earnings between experienced
students and those who did not take up any jobs during their study period will disappear in subsequent years.
Researchers have also noted that graduates of Polish universities tend to earn ever more at the entry level.
