The aim in this chapter is to analyze stratification in Finnish higher
education by examining the establishment of a binary degree structure on
the Master’s level. The idea of educational credentialism is adopted to
address positional differences between higher education sectors. The
question that arises is how the attainment of a degree from a particular
sector is related to job opportunities in the labor market. The
empirical analysis focuses on how graduates with an academic Master’s
degree and employers reacted to the new professional Master’s degree.
The introduction of a new degree specific to universities of applied
sciences allowed the research universities to distinguish themselves
and, by claiming a higher quality of academic programs, to cast their
degrees as superior to those of their counterparts.