This study presents the latest research into the value of qualifications for the attainment of a first job. It examines the ways in which educational qualifications affect the occupational outcomes of men and women in 13 countries, analyzing each comparatively.

1. The institutional embededness of the stratification process: a comparative study of qualifications and occupations in thirteen countries ; 2. The transition from school to work in Australia ; 3. Education and occupation in Britain ; 4. From education to first job: the French case ; 6. Investment in education: educational qualifications and class of entry in the Republic of Ireland ; 7. The transition from school to work in Israel ; 8. Occupational returns to education in contemporary Italy ; 9. Educational credentials and labour market entry outcomes in Japan ; 10. From high school and college to work in Japan - meritocracy through institutional and semi-institutional linkages ; 11. Education and early occupation in the Netherlands around 1990: categorical and continous scales and the details of a relationship ; 12. Allocation processes in the Swedish labour market ; 13. The transition from school to work in Switzerland: do characteristics of the educational system and class barriers matter? ; 14. The transition from school to work in Taiwan ; 15. The early returns: the transition from school to work in the United States

`excellent overviews of trends and isues in the countries concerned ... Mulle and Shavit have taken great pains to ensure the comparability of the data and the analyses ... They have come closer to a cross-nationally comparable analysis of the transition from school to work than any previous study based on so many countries. ... Shavit and Muller have achieved an important milestone in research on cross-national differences in school-to-work transitions.' European Sociological Review, vol. 17, no. 3 This is a highly competent book of technically advanced statistical method about the causes, especially the educational causes, of the pattern of entry of young people into employment. - A H Halsey. Journal Social Politics. 1998. It will be most useful to to students and scholars interested in cross-national investigation of both formal educational qualifications and subsequent access to job market structures. The editors have bought together an international group of experts to compare the association between educational qualifications and occupational outcomes early in workers' careers in thirteen industrialized countries. `This is a very important book. It brings together many of the very best social stratification analysts to conduct parallel studies of a core stratification linkage. The result is a rich scholarly feast that is both highly informative and a challenge to future strafication research ... The work reported in this book takes us a long way toward understanding the interface between education and labor force entry in comparative terms. It provides a firm base on which to build ... No serious scholarly library should be without this book.' Alan C Kerckhoff, American Journal of Sociology

Systematic examination of a important social issue, relying on the latest research Fine comparative study featuring a wealth of detailed information on thirteen different countries Features contributions by some of the world's leading scholars in the field Offers a range of insightful policy-oriented observations

Systematic examination of a important social issue, relying on the latest research Fine comparative study featuring a wealth of detailed information on thirteen different countries Features contributions by some of the world's leading scholars in the field Offers a range of insightful policy-oriented observations