ERIC Number: ED587794
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jun
Pages: 47
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Skilled Non-College Occupations in the U.S. WCER Working Paper No. 2018-7
Scaglione, Matías D.
Wisconsin Center for Education Research
This paper presents a new approach to the identification of relatively skilled occupations that do not typically require a bachelor's degree for entry. I call this group of occupations Skilled Non-College Occupations (SNCOs). The proposed approach relies heavily on a new skills index based on data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. In contrast with studies that estimate that employment in so-called middle-skill jobs in the U.S. represents one third to nearly a half of total employment, this study estimates that the combined employment of SNCOs accounted for 16.2% of all jobs in 2016. Exploratory analysis shows that SNCOs (a) represent only one in five jobs that do not require a 4-year college degree for entry; (b) encompass a wide variety of occupations and industries, even though they are highly concentrated in a relatively small number of them; (c) usually pay above-average wages; (d) show a quite low correlation between wages and the skills scores; and (e) include a significant proportion of workers who are potentially underemployed in terms of their level of educational attainment.
Descriptors: Skilled Occupations, Employment, Employment Qualifications, Occupational Information, Wages, Skilled Workers, Underemployment, Educational Attainment
Wisconsin Center for Education Research. School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1025 West Johnson Street Suite 785, Madison, WI 53706. Tel: 608-263-4200; Fax: 608-263-6448; e-mail: uw-wcer@education.wisc.edu; Web site: https://www.wcer.wisc.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A