WHAT DO CZECH ICT STUDENTS THINK ABOUT ...

Kristýna Vltavská, Jakub Fischer

WHAT DO CZECH ICT STUDENTS THINK ABOUT THEIR CURRENT AND FUTURE JOBS? Kristýna Vltavská, Jakub Fischer Department of Economic Statistics Faculty of Informatics and Statistics University of Economics, Prague [email protected], [email protected] Keywords IT Students, Work At Study, Labour Market, Employability Of Graduates

Abstract The aim of the paper is to present and analyze key results from EUROSTUDENT V Survey which has been realised in the Czech Republic in 2013. The paper is focused on students of study programmes related to information and communication technologies. As the key results for this group of students we consider the questions and answers concerning labour market so we analyse the current employment of students (do they work during studies or study while working), link between their study programme and current job, reasons for working and study and their study and job workload. As very important we consider future chances for employment on both national and international labour market from their own perspective which we can compare with true data on employment of ICT graduates.

1. Introduction Situation of graduates at study programmes related to information and communication technologies (hereinafter: ICT graduates) is a subject of interest of many researchers. Maryska et al. (2012) point out the relation between ICT university education and the development of the whole economy. Doucek et al. (2011) emphasise the importance of fulfilment the requirements on graduates of ICT study programmes applied by the Czech ICT industry for improvement its competitiveness. Marek (2013) analyses the wage evolution in the Czech Republic including the view on individual industries. Mazouch & Suchankova (2013) point out the importance of lifelong learning and analyse the connection between formal education and lifelong learning. The unemployment of ICT graduates divided by the Czech universities is analysed by Fischer & Vltavska (2013). The aim of this paper is to analyse the current and future situation at the labour market from the point of view of current students of study programmes related to information and communication technologies (hereinafter: ICT students). What is the share of ICT students who are employed during their studies? Do these students work during studies or study while working? Is their current job related to their study programme comparing to non-ICT students? Why the ICT students work at study and what is their study and job workload? Are the ICT students satisfied with their workload? 259

What Do Czech ICT Students Think about Their Current and Future Jobs?

The key result of the survey consists in the assessment of chances of ICT students at the labour market after graduation, both national and international. Students’ own perspective is compared to the analysis of the true unemployment of ICT graduates (Fischer & Vltavska 2013) and the perspective of ICT students is compared to the perspective of non-ICT ones. The rest of the paper is organised as follows. In the next chapter the survey EUROSTUDENT V is briefly introduced and the methodology used is described. In the chapter 3 the results of our analysis are presented and discussed and finally some recommendations for the educational policy related to ICT study programmes are given.

2. Data and Methodology For our analysis we use the unique micro-data from survey EUROSTUDENT V, which was carried out by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (namely the project Ipn KREDO CZ.1.07/4.1.00/33.0005). The survey was realised in the Czech Republic in 2013. This survey covered all state and public and selected private higher education institutions. After removal of uncompleted or insufficient questionnaires, the dataset consists of 4,664 respondents. This number of respondents allows us the detail analysis of selected sample of respondents, e.g. students of individual study programmes like ICT study programmes (296 respondents). Table 1 shows the basic descriptive statistics of the dataset. There are 86.3 % male ICT students. 72.2 % of ICT students study at the Bachelor degree, the most ICT students represent age group 22 to 25. Students are notably full-time students. gender

age categories

qualification being studied for formal status

female

13.7

male

86.3

up to 21

36.3

22 to 25

42.8

26 to 30

14.2

over 30

6.7

bachelor

72.2

master

27.8

full-time student

86.6

part-time student

13.4

Table 1 Descriptive statistics, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V

For our analysis and for comparison of ICT and non-ICT students, we use standard statistical and descriptive methods (e.g. contingency tables and chi-square test). These methods are described in detail by Field (2008).

3. Results and Discussion Students could evaluate themselves on the scale between no work to full-time job during the semester (Figure 1). 44.9% of ICT students have a paid job during the whole semester. Only 22.5% of ICT students work from time to time during the semester and the rest of ICT students do not


have any paid job. Results differ from all Czech students at the public HEIs where approximately 60% of students have regular or part-time job during semester.

32.6 44.9

22.5

Yes, I work during the whole semester Yes, I work from time to time during the semester No, I don't work during the semester Figure 1 Do you have a paid job during current semester?, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V 3.1 26.6

70.3

Primarily, I am a student besides other activities (e.g. paid job) Primarily, I work and I study alongside working Primarily, I am occupied with other duties/activities besides my studies Figure 2 Which of the following describes your current situation best?, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V

Since ICT students mostly work during study we would like to know how they describes themselves. ICT students assess themselves primarily as students (see Figure 2). Only 26.6% of ICT students evaluated themselves as persons who primarily work and study alongside working. The same results could be found in comparison with all Czech students. Since students work during the studies the average time spend weekly at work present very interesting statistics. ICT students spend approximately 22 hours per week at work while all Czech students at public HEIs spend approximately 20 hours per week at work (private HEIs students spend more than 30 hours per typical week at work).

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60 50 23.3 40 27.4 30 27.4 20 10

33.5 22.1 11.7

0 time for study-related activities

time for paid jobs

totally satisfied

total workload

satisfied

Figure 3 Looking at your workload based on the time you spend on study-related activities and on paid jobs, please rate your satisfaction with your workload. (%) Source: EUROSTUDENT V

Figure 3 shows only portion of totally satisfied and satisfied ICT students with their workload. ICT students are totally satisfied (33.5%) and satisfied (23.3%) with their time for paid job. They are less satisfied with their total workload. The interesting question is why ICT students work. Do they work to fund their living, to gain experience on the labour market or do they work because they have free time to spend? As Figure 4 shows (only the portion of students who totally agree or agree with the exact answer) they primarily work to gain experience on the labour market. They do not agree with the statement that they have free time to spend. Results closely correspond to results of all Czech students. 60 50 40

12.1 12.7

17.9

31.0

26.9

30 20 10

37.6 8.4 7.0

0 I work to fund my I work to improve I work to gain living my living standards experience on the labour market

totally agree

I work because I have free time to spend

agree

Figure 4 To what extent do the following statements apply to your situation?, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V

Figure 5 presents results about the relation of the current study programme and paid job of students. Paid job of ICT students very closely relates to the study programme in 26.9% and closely in


14.8%. In comparison with all Czech students, the portion of very closely related answers is higher but in overall examination (very closely and closely) the relation of job and study programme is approximately the same for ICT students as for all Czech students. 45 40 35

14.8 22.0

30 25 20 15

26.9 20.5

10 5 0 ICT students

all Czech students

very closely

closely

Figure 5 How closely related is your job to the content of your study programme?, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 national level

international level

national level

ICT students

very good

good

average

international level

all Czech students

poor

very poor

unable to rate

Figure 6 How do you rate your chances on the labour market after graduating from your current study programme?, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V

Students were asked to evaluate their chances on the labour market on the national and international level (Figure 6). ICT students think more positively about their chances both on national and international labour market as their work is more international than for example teachers. 41.5% of ICT students evaluate their chances on national labour market as very good in comparison with 22.3% of all Czech students. ICT students think about their very good chances on international market in 17.3%. On the contrary, there are only 8% of all Czech students who evaluate their

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chance on international labour market as very good. These results correspond to the low unemployment rate of ICT students as described by Fischer and Vltavska (2013). When we look closer to the chances on the national labour market by the qualification being studied for there exists statistical significant relation between these variables (using Chi-squared Test, 5% level of significance). There are 40.8% of Bachelor ICT students who evaluate their chances on the national labour market as very good. Very similar opinion state Master ICT students (43.4%). Statistical significance were found in breakdown by formal status of students. Figure 8 shows that full-time students evaluate their chances on the national labour market as very good or good in 82.8%. Chances on the international labour market are evaluated more pessimistic. Only 38.9% full-time students and 32.3% of part-time students asses their chances as very good or good. 100 90 80 70

50.6

60

34.6

50 40 30 20

40.8

43.4

Bachelor

Master

10 0

very good

good

Figure 7 How do you rate your chances on the national labour market after graduating from your current study programme?, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

42.4

17.6

48.8

40.4

full-time student

part-time student

21.9

12.7

16.9

19.6

full-time student

part-time student

national level

international level

very good

good

Figure 8 How do you rate your chances on the labour market after graduating from your current study programme?, ICT students, % Source: EUROSTUDENT V


4. Conclusion This paper presented main conclusions about ICT students according to the unique micro-data gained from the EUROSTUDENT V survey. This contribution sought to find out if ICT students work during studies or study while working. Moreover, we examined whether their current job is related to their study programme. As the results show 41.7% of ICT students’ asses their current job as very closely or closely to the current study field. This result corresponds to the opinion of all students in the Czech Republic. These results provide less obvious view on the position of ICT students at the labour market during their studies. These results are unique do to the uniqueness of the micro-data set from the EUROSTUDENT V survey. In future, it will be possible to compare these results with situation in other countries which join the EUROSTUDENT V survey, the results in other countries are nowadays being processed. For further research, we recommend to study the differences between individual higher education institutions and to deeply analyse the relation between the results of the survey and the data from the labour market. Furthermore, the results could be compared to the results of the survey on PhD students, which is realised during 2014.

Acknowledgement This article is supported by Institutional Support for Long Period and Conceptual Development of Research and Science at Faculty of Informatics and Statistics, University of Economics, Prague.

References Doucek, P., Maryška, M., Nedomová, L. & Novotný, O. (2011). Competitiveness of Czech ICT industry-Requirements on ICT HEIs Graduates. In: Liberec Economic Forum. Liberec, 2011, 110–117. ISBN 978-80-7372-755-0. Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Third edition. Sage, London, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84787-906-6. Fischer, J. & Vltavská, K. (2013). Unemployment of Graduates of IT Study Programmes in the Czech Republic. In: IDIMT-2013 Information Technology Human Values, Innovation and Economy, 2013, 71–76. ISBN 978-399033-083-8. Marek, L. (2013). Some Aspects of Average Wage Evolution in the Czech Republic. In: International Days of Statistics and Economics, 2013, 947-958. ISBN 978-80-86175-87-4. Maryška, M., Doucek, P. & Kunstová, R. (2012). The Importance of ICT Sector and ICT University Education for the Economic Development. In: 3rd International Conference on New Horizons in Education (INTE), 2012, 1060– 1068. ISSN 1877-0428. Mazouch, P. & Suchánková, P. (2013). Analysis of compulsory education in lifelong learning. In: Efficiency and Responsibility in Education, 2013, 420-426. ISBN 978-80-213-2378-0.

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