Ascending the Social Ladder: Exploring Professional Advancement and Employability Among First-Generation Graduates

This study explores the impact of higher education on the employability of first-generation students, with an analysis of the interplay between education, socio-economic background, and career prospects. The National Survey on the Employability of Higher Education Graduates (CNAAIS) data is analysed in order to gain insight into the employability of higher education graduates. The discussion primarily focuses on employability outcomes, identifies influential factors, and evaluates institutional interventions to shed light on the employability gap that first-generation students often face. The study uses the CNAAIS data as a reference to answer the research questions. The results of the survey demonstrate that the employability process of a higher education graduate can be correlated with different types of influencing factors, including educational-related, socio-economic-related, general, or specific variables, such as other types of professional experiences during university studies. However, a particular conclusion that can be drawn from the data is that first-generation students tend to earn lower median incomes and have higher rates of underemployment than their peers with at least one parent with a higher education degree. Despite this, first-generation college students tend to develop more in-depth skills in some areas, such as foreign languages or introductory and advanced IT, than their colleagues from a more educated family background. However, these skills are not sufficiently leveraged to overcome the discrepancies that appear among first-generation students and those with a history in education. Hence, it is crucial to consider variables such as networking, professional mentoring, and coaching, or simultaneous development of other types of highly needed skills for the labour market, such as the capacity to negotiate. Additionally, discrimination that might arise against first-generation students when it comes to employability due to their socio-economic status or biased hiring practices should also be considered.