This study investigates community college skills builders--students who enroll for a short time, take courses concentrated in career and technical education (CTE), are highly successful in their coursework, but typically leave college without a postsecondary credential. Drawing on administrative data from Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, and California,…

Numerous studies have investigated the consequences of vertical transfer on students' higher education outcomes in comparison to "native 4-year students"--those who went straight from high school into a bachelor's program. However, the long-term labor market outcomes for vertical transfer students are understudied. Using…

To increase the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, U.S. education policy has emphasized the pathways from education to STEM careers. While some scholars argue that employers prioritize the degree, and not institutional affiliation, in hiring graduates, the argument needs to be warranted with more recent data…

Using detailed administrative data from Virginia, this paper examines whether community college "vertical transfer" students who resemble "native four-year" students in their accumulated college-level credits and performance at their point of entry into the four-year sector perform equally well in terms of both academic and…

More than 4 decades of research on community colleges has indicated that students who begin in these institutions realize lower levels of educational attainment than initial 4-year entrants. In terms of labor market outcomes, studies have overwhelmingly focused on comparing 2-year entrants to high school graduates who did not attend college. In…

This study investigates the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations from the aspect of earning differentials. Using a national data source that tracked college graduates' work experiences over a ten-year time frame post-bachelor's degree, this study examines longitudinally the…

Using an expanded econometric model, this study sought to estimate more precisely the net effect of independent variables (i.e., attending an HBCU) on three measures of labor market outcomes for African American college graduates. Findings reveal a statistically significant, albeit moderate, relationship between measures of background, human and…

Curricula in U.S. colleges and universities have historically evolved around two ideal types: arts and science fields (A&S), and vocational fields. Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study, 1992-1994, we find that high socioeconomic status (SES) students are more likely to choose A&S fields than are low-SES students. The Baccalaureate and…

Examined the extent to which labor-market conditions and the sex-composition of academic disciplines influenced average disciplinary salaries, based on the average, full-time 1988-89 salaries of new assistant professors for 16 academic disciplines. Findings from both cross-sectional and dynamic models indicated that both labor-market conditions…

Compa-ratio, a technique used in diverse ways in the corporate sector, was used to analyze gender bias in faculty salaries at one university. Results, compared with those derived from two multiple regression analyses of the same data, suggest that the technique is adaptable for higher education and easily understood by administrators and faculty.…

A comparison of salary and rank by sex at a major institution before and after initiation of an approved affirmative action program suggests that required programs are more costly than effective. Rather than the current regulatory approach, federal incentives and greater attention to results than procedures are recommended. (Author/LBH)

A three-phase salary review process conducted at one university is used to illustrate issues involved in determining salary equity. It describes salary policies, determining possible discrimination due to minority group status and determining salary adjustments of individual faculty in the minority group being discriminated against. (Author/LBH)

The design of a faculty salary structure that gives weight both to professional concerns about merit and to personal concerns of salary improvement in the course of an academic career is illustrated. Commitment to quality, resources, and leadership are seen as essential to this model's success. (MSE)