Fenômeno mismatch e a remuneração de profissionais das áreas de administração e ciências contábeis no Ceará: diferenças entre gênero, idade e etnia

Abstract

The expansion of higher education in Brazil, especially from the 1990s onward, significantly transformed the structure of education and the labor market. The number of Higher Education Institutions increased from 894 in 1995 to 2,580 in 2023, with particular emphasis on Business Administration and Accounting programs, which rank among the most widely offered and demanded in the country. This growth raises questions about the impacts of the increasing number of professionals entering the labor market. In this context, the present study investigated the phenomenon of educational mismatch, understood as the incompatibility between an individual’s level of schooling and the occupational requirements of their job. This phenomenon may manifest as overeducation—when an individual possesses a higher level of education than required—or undereducation—when their schooling is below what the occupation demands. The methodology adopted follows the approach proposed by Marioni (2021), with initial estimation carried out through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). The results indicate the presence of educational mismatch among formal-sector workers in Ceará in the fields of Business Administration and Accounting, revealing that overeducated workers tend to receive wage premiums, whereas undereducated workers experience earnings penalties, thus highlighting inequalities in the returns to education. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as gender, race, and age significantly influence the effects of mismatch: women, non-white individuals, and younger workers are more penalized than older white men, even when overeducated. Despite the overall influence of the phenomenon on earnings in both fields, the study found that, among Accounting professionals, the penalties and premiums associated with mismatch and individual characteristics are more homogeneous.