Globalization and the transition from education to employment in the MENA region

This chapter summarizes the state-of-the-art with regard to the transition from education to work in the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region in the context of globalization. First, it describes key development stages of MENA countries and changes of the institutional and structural context in the course of globalization. Then, it synthesizes findings from quantitative-empirical studies on the transition from education to work based on large-scaled nationally representative data. The review is structured across three important stages and aspects of the dynamic process of the school-to-work transition: the transition from education to labor market inactivity, the duration of transition from education to the first job and the quality of the first job. It concludes with the identification of research gaps and ideas for avenues for future research.