Purpose: This study attempts to investigate the interrelationship between choice-based educational achievement and employability prospects across the skill-based occupations amongst the youth in India. Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on the use of National Sample Survey (NSS) data on employment and unemployment for the 68th round (2011–2012) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) (2017–2018). To estimate the relative contributions of choice-based educational attainment affecting the skill-based employment of youth in a different category of occupations (high/medium/low skilled), the multinomial logistic regression and its marginal effects have been used. Findings: The study finds educational attainment both as an opportunity (improvising employability in the high and medium skill occupation) and a challenge (highest unemployment amongst the educated) while ensuring skill-based youth employability. Despite the growing enrolment of youth in education, youth from a general education background does not find sustained employability prospects in high-skill occupations. Research limitations/implications: Vocational education highlights a brighter employability prospect but the acceptability of the same amongst the youth needs a policy intervention. Practical implications: Educational choices need an intervention based on market-driven apprenticeships and training. Social implications: The decline of overall employability in the low-skill occupation raises a threat to inclusive development as such youth results to Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), better identified as the unproductive economic youth. Originality/value: This study attempts to investigate that “how far the choice of educational attainment (general/technical/vocational) is able to make youth a fit in the world of work?” in the Indian context, where the youth constitute the highest share in the population. © 2020, Nitin Bisht and Falguni Pattanaik.
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