Underemployment Experiences Among Youth with Higher Education Graduates: A Qualitative Research Study in Istanbul

This study aims to determine the causes and measures to be taken to minimize the underemployment problem of the youth in emerging economies and draw attention to their importance. In this context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 individuals aged 15-29 working outside of the fields they received education in the province of Istanbul, one of the emerging economies of Türkiye, which has a youth-dominant demography and university. According to the findings obtained in the study, it was determined that there are many apparent reasons for education-employment mismatch among higher education graduates. Over the years, the labor market conditions in Türkiye have hindered the graduates' ability to secure jobs in their respective fields. Factors such as living costs, environmental pressures, and psycho-social issues contribute significantly to the aggravation of this mismatch by compelling individuals to seek employment outside their educational backgrounds. In addition, it was determined that the work experiences they started in their early careers experiences created a vicious spiral mostly woven with negative experiences. The similarity between the findings and those of numerous studies in the existing literature indicates credibility and consistency in our findings. Significant factors such as preference among the young population group based on their scores when entering the university ranking exam, the absence of a conscious guidance process, the inability of labor markets to provide a linear expansion in line with the increase in the number of university-educated graduates, forced choices brought about by the need for work experience, and family and environmental pressure are the determinants of the underemployment experience stands out among them.