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Jakarta. Edward (not his real name) thought graduating with a BA in economics would be enough to guarantee him a secure job and a steady source of income.

Since graduating in May, however, he has come to the realization that a bachelor’s degree may not provide him the edge it once gave his parents.

“It’s very difficult to find a job these days,” he said. “I think the recession has forced companies to cut costs and hire less. [And] more and more people are pursuing university degrees.”

Edward’s case is far too common. Intellectual unemployment, or unemployment involving those with a university degree, reached 1.2 million last year, a new high, up from 740,000 in 2007 and 473,000 in 2006, according to data published by a national working unit of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Even though less then 3 percent of Indonesians possess a bachelor’s degree or above, the number of university graduates continues to exceed the demand in the work force.

In 2008, 12.6 percent of university graduates were unemployed, higher than the country’s overall unemployment rate of 8.4 percent, according to data from the BPS.

The problem is worsened by the mismatch between available jobs and the skills of graduates. This ultimately results in more university graduates unable to find jobs, while many of those who do secure work find themselves outside their areas of expertise.

The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry’s Center for Data and Information says it has found that some job openings are fought over by multiple candidates, while others receive no applications at all.

Rosa (not her real name), who studied English literature for four years, understands the need to settle in such a tight job market — at least, temporarily. “I thought I knew what I would do, but then I graduated and started to panic.”

After applying for any available job, Rosa finally landed work at a public affairs consultancy in Jakarta, which did not require the use of any of the knowledge and skills she had learned at university.

“All those classes and essays on multiculturalism, linguistics and philosophy are pretty much useless now,” she said.

Cherry Riadi Lukman, a consultant from Experd, a human resources company that links job seekers and companies, says mismatches happen all the time.

“Nowadays, getting a job depends largely on the willingness of the graduates to try something new,” she said.

Other experts say the twin issues of unemployment and underemployment can be addressed by colleges and universities.

Sandra Fikawati, head of career development at the University of Indonesia, said the solution “lies mostly in bridging the information gap between universities and companies, which stems from a lack of systematic studies.”

One way to do this is by establishing ties between university departments and companies that are likely to hire their graduates, such as a medical school affiliating with a hospital.

“Internships that result from such close cooperation are [important], because they give companies a chance to get to know the students and allow the schools to understand what employers are looking for,” Cherry said.

Another option is to have a career development center that profiles university graduates and exposes them to a wide array of job opportunities.

The University of Indonesia’s career center, for instance, conducts regular studies to help fine-tune certain aspects of the university, like the number of students admitted each year.

“In our 2008 study, we found that students from the School of Dental Health and School of Law were usually hired less than five months after graduating,” Sandra said.

She added that graduates from the School of Math and Natural Sciences, one of the largest programs at the university, had the hardest time finding jobs.

Though it may seem like a natural solution, tailoring programs to focus more on skills and specializations may not be ideal for all academic programs.

“Medicine, law and biochemistry, for instance, have their own specialized job markets and require students to possess certain knowledge and skills when they graduate,” Sandra said.

“Businesses and organizations, on the other hand, seek graduates with a general educational background, such as those who major in economics.”

Gumilar Somantri, University of Indonesia’s rector, says universities must heed market demand and shift from specialization toward a more liberal arts approach — one that holistically integrates different fields, or what he calls “knowledge without walls.”

Still, the facts show some degrees sell better than others.

“While everything has its own market, majors like sales and marketing, economics or management are always the most sought after,” Cherry said.

“Philosophy graduates, on the other hand, have a narrower job market. Companies may still hire them, but in smaller numbers.”

Winarno, the rector of Atma Jaya University, says more efforts are needed to match the supply of the graduates with the demand for workers in order to resolve the problem of intellectual unemployment.

On a deeper level, the debate has sparked much debate over the question of the purpose of getting an education.

The government has repeatedly stressed the need for educational institutions to “link and match” their programs with what the market demands in order to spur economic growth.

Many experts point to the need for universities also to train and prepare their graduates to become entrepreneurs.

Others, like Said Hamid Hasan, an education expert from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia in Bandung, say a university education is more than just about equipping students for future work.

“One must distinguish between the purpose of a bachelor’s degree, which is general, and a vocational program, which is practically oriented,” he said.

“The latter exists to fulfill the need for workers, but universities also hold the cultural mandate to pursue greater knowledge as part of a push for the greater development of our civilization.”

Suparman, head of the Indonesian Independent Teachers Federation, believes the primary goal of universities should be to train students for academic research.

But he says this idea is lost on students who “now go to university just to get a certificate that they can use to apply for jobs.”

“The distinct features of academics [one of which is to produce researchers] have begun to fade away,” he said.