subject to uncertainty, time consumption, trial and error efforts, bad job-
matching results, most of times. Mariana Alves’ PhD. dissertation offers us
a reference framework in this light either because of the theoretical
approach developed and the partial coincidence with the occupations under
analysis and the approach to the gender biases involved in the insertion
strategies (Alves 2004). From this author’s work we obtain a thorough
discussion of the above traits relatively to the insertion processes of
graduates by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology.
The argument which states that education and/or training would be
completed before entering the labour market has to be eradicated for good,
as well: how would it be possible otherwise to go on sustaining the need for
lifelong learning (LLL) as most education and research organisations
agree? Complying with LLL obviously prevents - or it should...-
researchers to go on relying on some of the other conventional assumptions
as, for instance, those which support the computation of the rates of return
to education as if work trajectories should be continuous, without any
unemployment or inactivity breaks and neutral towards skills upgrading
and downgrading procedures13.
In this paper we will try therefore to investigate the main gender
differences behind Portuguese scientist labour market insertion conditions:
will it be the case that job-matching, working conditions and more
generally motivations and strategies towards post-graduation would be
substantially different for men and women scientists? Will it be that taking
a MSc./a PhD. will work for Portuguese scientist women as a
compensatory strategy for the worse working conditions and as a vehicle
13 Alternatively, we have been developing research on the relationship between work and skills
improvement or obsolescence on the basis of Weiss (1986).
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