The Level of Mismatch between Career and Graduated Field among University Graduates in Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

Horizontal mismatch, employment in an occupation unrelated to one's field of study, is an increasingly visible feature of Somalia's recovering labour market, yet it remains empirically under-documented. This study examines the level of career–field mismatch among university graduates in Mogadishu, Somalia. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted online between February and March 2026 with 303 graduates using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed in Python (pandas, scipy) using frequencies, percentages, and Pearson's chi-square (χ²) tests of independence. Overall, 50.5% (n = 153) of graduates worked in a field not directly related to their studies, against 49.5% (n = 150) who were matched. Mismatch varied sharply by field of study (χ² = 59.17, p < 0.001): medicine graduates were the most mismatched (79.3%), while computer science (31.0%) and engineering (35.7%) graduates were far better aligned. Women were significantly more likely to be mismatched than men (69.7% vs 42.5%; χ² = 17.45, p < 0.001). Employment sector was also strongly associated with mismatch (χ² = 30.13, p < 0.001), with government employees the best aligned (23.7% mismatched) and private-sector employees the worst (60.6%), whereas education level showed no significant association (χ² = 6.78, p = 0.148). Among mismatched graduates, the dominant reason was a lack of jobs in their field (77.1%, n = 118), and 73.9% (n = 113) had never worked in their trained discipline. These results indicate that mismatch in Mogadishu is driven less by individual under-qualification than by structural labour-demand failure, with direct implications for higher-education planning, gender-responsive career support, and labour-market policy in Somalia and the wider East African Community (EAC) and IGAD region.