Only 43.5% of companies differentiate between people with a bachelor's degree and people with a master's degree when recruiting new employees and only 40.1% of companies recognize newly recruited employees with a master's degree as having two or more years of work experience. In addition, only in 33.0% of companies are master’s degree helpful in reducing the time required for promotion. This indicates that experience in the labor market takes precedence over the acquisition of a master's degree.
The average monthly wage desired by people with a master's degree is 3 million won, but the actual average wage paid is 300,000 won lower at 2.7 million won. In addition, more than half of employees with a master's degree are doing tasks that do not require master's level education.
A graduate of a non-capital college who advance into a graduate school in the capital area instead of one in a non-capital area will be able to shorten his/her job search period by 1.2 months. However, his/her average monthly wage will still be 110,000 won lower than that of those who graduate school in a provincial area, there is no actual merit in moving up the education ladder.
Employees with a master's degree believe that the economic benefits of a master's degree are insignificant; they perceive a master's degree is useful in terms of achieving academic growth (3.93 points) and self-satisfaction (3.85 points), but low in terms of employability enhancement (3.47 points) and income growth (3.32 points).
Generally, companies rate a person with a master’s degree lower than the person rates themselves. In particular, the greatest gap exists between their ratings on interpersonal skills.