This study focuses on the need for a balance between supply and demand for high-level human skills (HLHS) in the Egyptian labor market. Individual educational and career decisions, which are dependent on the flow of labor market information and the rewards system, contribute to the present imbalance.
Those students who indicated that study for its own sake was an important reason for attending college and those who felt that their present course of study met their personal interests tended to be more satisfied than others. The respondents placed a great deal of importance on the desire to follow friends into a given field of study, and also on secondary school guidance counseling, results which suggest that the example and approval of others are related to satisfaction. Students in technical fields tended to be more satisfied that their career objectives were being met by their present courses of study; they tended to rely more on parents and other relatives for career information than did students in non-technical fields. Graduates who considered their education useful for meeting present job responsibilities and those who indicated that personal interest was important in choosing their field of study were more successful in the labor market. Opportunities for further study, creative work, and travel were important for graduates. For graduates employed in non-technical areas, the potential for increasing their level of competence and their desire to follow friends into a particular field were stronger inducements than for those with technical specializations.
Observing that the current link between the Egyptian higher education system and guaranteed employment is destructive to higher education and misaligned with both labor market requirements and individual aspirations, the author makes policy recommendations for a freeze on guaranteed employment, a plan of incentives and scholarships to increase the attractiveness of jobs and skills, a computerized job information system, and a council for career guidance to assist students in choosing careers more likely to meet manpower needs in Egypt, as well as those in other Arab and African countries that depend on Egypt for their workforce. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
