Determining the change in income due to increased tertiary education

[摘要] The primary objective of this study is to determine whether the level of tertiary educationhas a positive and significant impact on the level of income received. This study willfocus on determining whether each subsequent level of tertiary education causes anincrease in the likelihood of earning a higher wage, by using a multinomial logisticregression model as well as cross-tabulation estimates. This study will also make use oftwo different data samples, where the first sample is sourced from the National IncomeDynamics Study's, 2010-2011, adult wave 2 dataset, and the second sample is sourcedfrom a questionnaire distributed to the North-West University's School of Economicsalumni from the Potchefstroom campus. Literature indicates that there is a significantrelationship between an individual's income and variables such as gender, age, maritalstatus, population group, occupation, sector or industry, years of work experience,location of employment, tenure, union membership, and, most importantly, education.Determining the effect of these variables on the income of tertiary educated individuals,will assist current and future graduates by providing relevant South African labourmarket information as well as providing some assistance in decisions which may resultin higher future earnings. From the NIDS data set, it was found that the level of tertiaryeducation was significantly associated with income, and that higher levels of tertiaryeducation were associated with higher income categories, while lower levels of tertiaryeducation were associated with lower income categories. From the Alumni data set itwas concluded that the level of tertiary education was not significantly associated withincome, which could be the result of the graduation period (2009-2012) of the sampleindividuals. It was also found that married individuals were more likely to have earningswithin the higher income categories, while the same result was obtained for males aswell as for those individuals who were employed in the Gauteng province. It was alsofound that those individuals with an honours degree had earnings within the low incomecategories, similar to those individuals with a bachelor's degree. The main factorsconsidered to influence the income of an individual with a tertiary qualification is gender,age, marital status, occupation, and the level of tertiary education.

[发布机构] North-West University