The path to becoming a school principal is characterized by a variety of trajectories that reflect the diverse experiences and backgrounds of aspiring leaders. While ideally the road to the principalship would result in a proportional and representative body of principals, research has shown this is rarely the case. To gain a better understanding…

It has been known for several years that there are shortages of school psychologists. Effects of these shortages include unmanageable caseloads, the inability of school psychologists to provide prevention and intervention services or to regularly consult with school personnel and families, limited access to mental and behavioral health services…

Purpose: This study examines the perceptions of human resource (HR) professionals regarding the use of micro-credentials in the job market. The research explores the role of micro-credentials as emerging credentials in job requirements, continuing education, soft skills acquisition, job application evaluation (JAE) processes, qualification…

Defined benefit (DB) pension plans incentivize "salary spiking," where sharp increases in pay are leveraged into significantly higher levels of retirement compensation. While egregious instances of salary spiking occasionally make headlines, there is little guidance on the definition of salary-spiking behavior or understanding of its…

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the U.S. education system and the economy in ways that dramatically affected the jobs of K-12 educators. However, data limitations have led to considerable uncertainty and conflicting reports about the nature of staffing challenges in schools. We draw on education employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…

This article examines academic job market experiences as an embodied performance, considering how different bodies must navigate that performance in different ways. Engaging with the critical race theory methodology of counterstory developed by Aja Martinez and the social justice heuristic developed by Rebecca Walton, Kristen R. Moore, and Natasha…

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the U.S. education system in ways that dramatically affected the jobs of K-12 employees. However, there remains considerable uncertainty about the nature and degree of staffing challenges during the pandemic. We draw on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and State Education Agencies (SEA) to describe…

Teacher hiring is a critical lever for improving school outcomes. However, the availability of supply is a significant barrier that affects principals' processes for teacher staffing. Drawing on sensemaking theory and concepts of fit, this study investigates how principals make sense of recruitment and hiring in a local labor market with severe…

Background: Over the past several years, numerous news stories have highlighted school districts' struggles in attracting personnel to adequately staff their schools. While these stories provide important anecdotes, there is little comprehensive work that documents school districts' demand for teachers, paraprofessionals, and other essential…

Prior research has found that economic downturns have positive effects on new teacher quality, but has not been able to determine the extent to which this relationship arises from a supply response (increased quantity or positive selection of teaching candidates) vs. a demand response (selection in hiring enabled by falling demand). In this paper,…

This study develops, validates, and applies a teacher applicant typology using labor market data. We construct our typology by applying a correlated topic model to 11,000 personal statements teachers submitted as part of their applications for open positions in Wisconsin public schools between 2015 and 2017. We identify seven types of teacher…

Do employers prioritize university prestige above an applicant's skills in the hiring process? To distinguish between the effect of human capital in the hiring process from the effect of the name of the graduating university--while controlling for networking effects--2,400 fictitious applications were submitted to IT and accounting jobs in the US,…

How the labour market operates in an increasingly digital context has remained under-researched. The article explains why the digital labour market is in urgent need of study, as digitalisation transforms how labour markets are structured and shape the competition for jobs. Digital tools give job seekers new ways of describing themselves and give…

The aim of this article is to provide a systematic review of the transversal competencies for employability in university graduates from an employer's perspective, with consideration to the importance of the topic in the cross-national context. The PRISMA statement was used to guide the methodology and the reporting for the systematic review. The…

This report is a response to congressional requests for the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to identify, synthesize, and explain the core components of the workforce skills gap discourse and, to the extent possible, explore and clarify evidence on the existence of skills gaps. The report acknowledges that the skills gap label is often applied…