Salary compression is defined as an issue of inequity when individuals performing the same job responsibilities (and in the same position) have varying compensation levels (Bereman & Lengnick-Hall, 1994; Homer et al., 2020). It occurs when a new employee is hired at a higher compensation than someone with longer tenure within the organization,…

Pay inequity controversies cut across all disciplines and fields in higher education (Meara et al., 2020; Toutkoushian & Conley, 2005). Despite efforts to reduce the wage gap, gender wage inequities persist and continue to adversely affect women across various sectors (Katzeff, 2019; Schieder & Gould, 2016). Since passing the Equal Pay Act…

This dissertation studies the effect of higher education costs on students' outcomes in the labor market, particularly when credit constraints are absent. It utilizes the UK's institutional setting to identify such an effect. The key findings are as follows. (i) Increasing tuition fees does not have adverse effects on students as long as credit…

This action research study implemented an intervention, the Learn at Work program, for operational employees in facilities management at William & Mary earning less than $19 an hour. One of eight dimensions in the Workplace Inclusion Scale, developed by Lennox et al. (2022), is "access to opportunity" (p. 27). This study's…

While higher education has been known as the great equalizer, the racial wealth gap of college graduates is overlooked: Among college-educated households (2013) the median net worth was $359,928 for white households; $250,637 for Asian households; $49,606 for Hispanic households; and $32,780 households for Black households. Although MSIs…

Higher education midlevel administrators have a high turnover rate. Previous research has established the relationship between job satisfaction and intent to leave in professional organizations including higher education. However, the literature on the relationship between intent to leave and job satisfaction of higher education midlevel…

Few studies have been conducted on collaborations in higher education specifically between faculty and institutional career centers. Institutional career centers offer college students important services related to career development areas such as exploring careers and majors, identifying career goals, building resumes, assisting with job and…

Throughout the years, Black women have worked to advance their quality of life. Black women have been obtaining additional degrees and certifications. Despite the degrees, years of experience, and qualifications, Black women are still unable to secure positions of administration in higher education institutions. Studies have shown that there are…

This dissertation presents three separate essays. The first two essays explore the gender wage gap and its dynamics in urban China from 1995 to 2018. The first chapter decomposes the gender wage gap based on the observed wage for workers with a precise measure of the hourly wages. The first chapter examines the observed average gender wage gap in…

This qualitative study explores the experiences of mid-level higher education professionals navigating workplace changes post-Coronavirus-19 Pandemic and during the subsequent Great Resignation. The study, framed by the theory of ambiguous loss to interpret the impacts of unresolved losses, underscores the importance of equipping higher education…

The purpose of this study is to identify common traits shared by first-generation college graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds who grew up in the inner-city. This research was inspired by Duckworth's grit research at Westpoint Academy which sought to predict which cadets would graduate (Duckworth, 2007). Sixty-three first-generation college…

Over the last several decades we have seen a fundamental transformation of higher education. Fifty years ago, 75% of faculty were in highly paid and secure tenure-track jobs, but today 75% are in non-tenure-track, or contingent positions. University administrators argue that this shift, and the low wages that accompany these positions, are…

This dissertation studies college admissions in Brazil in the past two decades, a period characterized by a decline in the socioeconomic inequality in demand for higher education. The first chapter studies an affirmative action policy enacted at a flagship university in Brazil to lower the socioeconomic inequality in college access. I find…

This paper builds a model of human capital accumulation driven by increasing specialization of the workforce. Individuals increase the efficiency of time dedicated to human capital acquisition by focusing investments on narrower sets of skills. The evolution of secondary and post-secondary curricula in the United States from 1870-2000 confirms the…

Across the United States, colleges and universities are adding a significant number of adjuncts and non-tenure track instructors to fill their respective classroom voids as subsequently, fewer opportunities for tenure-track status professors are being made available. While there is an economic value in hiring non-tenure track faculty, many…