The perception of a university degree as a guaranteed pathway to a professional career is crumbling in Cameroon. While mass education has successfully increased the number of graduates, the labor market has failed to keep pace, leading to a pervasive problem known as education-job mismatch. This isn’t just a frustration for young graduates; it’s an economic drag on the nation and a defining characteristic of Cameroon graduate underemployment.
Data from the Fourth Cameroon Household Survey (ECAM IV) and subsequent labor market studies reveal a striking reality: a significant portion of the educated workforce is either overqualified for the roles they hold or working in fields completely unrelated to their studies.
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The Dual Crisis Driving Cameroon Graduate Underemployment
Education-job mismatch is categorized into two key types, both severely impacting Cameroonian workers:
1. Vertical Mismatch (Overeducation)
This occurs when a worker possesses a higher level of education than is formally required for their current job.
- The Data: Descriptive analysis of the Cameroonian labor market indicates that roughly 38.49% of workers are considered overeducated. For the most highly educated graduates, this figure can be significantly higher, reaching up to 63.3% in some estimations. This means that nearly 4 out of every 10 workers are doing jobs that could be competently handled by someone with less schooling.
2. Horizontal Mismatch (Field Mismatch)
This occurs when a worker is employed in a job that is unrelated to their field of study. A graduate in Sociology working as a bank teller or a History major working in a logistics warehouse are common examples.
- The Data: Approximately 29.62% of Cameroonian workers are horizontally mismatched, meaning they are not using the specialized knowledge they acquired in school.
The Double Whammy
Worse still, around 19.77% of workers suffer from a double mismatch, meaning they are both overeducated and working outside their field of study. This group faces the greatest professional and financial challenges that contribute to chronic Cameroon graduate underemployment.
The High Cost of Mismatch: The Wage Penalty
The consequence of this widespread mismatch is more than just job dissatisfaction; it directly translates into a significant wage penalty that erodes the financial return on educational investment.
Studies analyzing earnings in Cameroon confirm that compared to a well-matched worker, an educated individual who is mismatched will earn substantially less:
| Type of Mismatch | Effect on Earnings (Wage Penalty) |
| Vertical Mismatch (Overeducation) | Tends to reduce the wage by approximately 0.39% |
| Horizontal Mismatch (Field Mismatch) | Tends to reduce the wage by approximately 0.4% |
| Double Mismatch | Results in the greatest penalty (around 0.41%), confirming that the more disconnected the job is from education, the greater the financial loss. |
The fact that an additional year of schooling yields a lower return for mismatched workers means that the years and resources invested in higher education are essentially subsidized by lower lifetime earnings.
Why the Gap? Causes of the Disconnect
The education-job mismatch is not an accident; it is the result of structural issues in the Cameroonian economy and education system:
1. Lack of Formal Job Creation
The primary driver is the low absorptive capacity of the formal sector. The number of university graduates released into the market annually far outstrips the number of new formal, high-skill jobs created. This forces graduates into a fierce competition for scarce roles, where employers can hire overqualified candidates for entry-level positions.
2. Education System Misalignment
Many academic programs, particularly in the social sciences and humanities, are criticized for being too theoretical and not sufficiently aligned with the practical, in-demand skills of the modern market (like digital tech, specialized trades, or technical fields). Graduates often lack the practical experience that employers demand, exacerbating the problem of Cameroon graduate underemployment.
3. The Survival Instinct
Given the lack of a robust unemployment insurance system, most Cameroonian graduates cannot afford prolonged unemployment. This pressure leads to what researchers call the “stepping stone” phenomenon: graduates accept jobs below their level—often in the vast informal sector—as a temporary measure for survival, hoping to search for a better-matched job while employed.
Policy Implications: Bridging the Divide
To harness the potential of its highly educated youth, Cameroon must shift its focus from simply increasing enrollment numbers to prioritizing quality and relevance. Solutions require a coordinated effort:
- Reforming Education: Aggressively promote and invest in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and professionalized university programs (like those mandated by the LMD system) to supply practical, market-driven skills.
- Boosting Demand: Implement policies that stimulate formal sector job creation and incentivize the private sector, particularly in high-growth areas like ICT and agro-industry, to create roles that demand and reward higher qualifications.
- Improving Information: Create better platforms for matching skills and jobs, providing students with accurate labor market data before they choose their fields of study to manage expectations and steer enrollment toward high-demand sectors.
Addressing the overeducation trap is crucial not only for the mental health and economic security of Cameroon’s youth but for reversing the trend of chronic Cameroon graduate underemployment and realizing the full potential of the country’s human capital.