Relationship between university degrees and the feeling of being overqualified among Quebec university graduates
In this article, we analyze the subjective dimensions of the holding of a university degree and concomitant phenomena, such as overqualification. Here we focus not on the market value of degrees but on their use value, in other words, on their value from the perspective of the holder. We show that the value of the degree depends not only on the relative number graduates from various categories competing for jobs but also on the intrinsic qualities which the degree confers to its holders. Our analyses are based on empirical data consisting drawn from 30 interviews with Quebec university graduates, conducted five years after their graduation in the framework of a retrospective study of their academic path and subsequent professional integration.