BOOK OF ABSTRACTS - University American College Skopje

OUT OF THE CRISIS: EU ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICIES RECONSIDERED8 th Annual international conference on European integrationMarija Andonova, Assoc. Prof. Nikica Mojsoska-Blazevski, PhDUniversity American College Skopje, Macedonianacova@uacs.edu.mk; nikica@uacs.edu.mkFactors Influencing the Wage Expectations among Macedonian Students: A ComparativePerspective with the EU StudentsThe aim of this paper is to assess the wage expectations of Macedonian students, and main factorsthat shape their expectations. Previous research elsewhere has shown that wage expectation is amajor determinant that influences’ schooling decision (Wolter and Zbinden, 2001, Williams andGordon, 1981, Betts, 1996). Given that the main pathway to developing human capital of anindividual is schooling, learning about the factors that affect individual’s decision whether to acquiremore education can contribute towards better educational policy in the country. We employ similarempirical approach as the one used by Brunello et al (2001, 2004). We use available information toregress: i) students’ beliefs about expectations for future salary with high school diploma; ii) futureearnings with college degree; and iii) college wage gain, on a set of variables which includes:university dummies, characteristics of the individual, socio-economic background, field of study, yearof enrolment, academic performance, sources of information for future earnings and reasons foruniversity choice. Data would be collected through a questionnaire distributed to Macedonianstudents from different universities, in their first and last year of study. We expect that results fromthis study will be in line with the results disclosed by other researchers, where wage expectationsare determined by a complexity of variables including: (a) socio-economic background of a student,(b) gender, (c) degree type, (d) academic performance, etc.Keywords: demand of schooling, wage expectations, higher educationBiographyMarija Andonova, BSc, is a teaching assistant in Business Mathematics and Statistics at the UniversityAmerican College-Skopje (UACS). She graduated from University St Cyril and Methodius-Skopje,Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics-Department of Mathematics. She continued hereducation by enrolling MBA studies at the UACS and is currently working on her Master thesis.Previously, she worked as a teacher in middle and secondary school. She attended several educationworkshops and seminars.Dr. Mojsoska Blazevski is Dean of the School of Business Economics and Management at theUniversity American College-Skopje (UACS), as well as a professor of economics and researchmethods. During her career, Mojsoska-Blazevski attended several seminars and trainings, inmacroeconomic diagnosis, forecasting methods, impact evaluation, labor economics, etc. Mojsoska-Blazevski has published and presented several articles and reports in economic journals andconferences, mainly in the area of macroeconomics, labor market, education and social system andpolicy in Macedonia and transition countries. She has been working on several projects with WorldBank, UNDP, European Commission, etc. She is advisor to the Minister of labor and social policy,member of the Management Board of the Association for Economic Research, EconomicPolicymaking and Advocacy, as well as a member of the Council of the Macedonian DevelopmentFoundation for Entrepreneurship.