Wage gap statistics continue to show that efforts around equitable pay distributions continue to fail. These data inform us that the outcomes are not meeting expectations therefore something must change. We still see nationally that white men are paid more than any other gender or racial group, which tells us that we are hiring more diverse…

This brief contains findings from a recent study exploring direct support professionals (DSPs) providing support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of finding and keeping quality DSPs in a field that has experienced high turnover for decades. This problem is exacerbated…

In light of growing difficulties for schools to attract teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the continued discussions surrounding the unionization of education, this paper examines the effect of collective bargaining (CB) laws on the salary of teachers with a STEM degree. To isolate the effect of…

This study examines the return to a year of schooling and the 'wage penalty' of over-education in the Israeli labour market. I used 2014-2015 PIAAC survey data to examine whether the basic assumption of the ORU wage model, i.e. that the return to a year of over-education is independent of the level of education, is plausible. I find that in…

This study seeks to reveal the heterogeneity in occupation-specific wage returns among graduates of the German vocational education and training (VET) system. We distinguish between VET graduates with and without a higher education entrance certificate (i.e. an Abitur). To implement our hierarchical multi-level analyses, we exploit the latest wave…

The study of social mobility can be traced back around 100 years, but up until the turn of the millennium it remained largely an academic topic. While a few seminal papers on income mobility had been published in the 1990s, the Sutton Trust's 2005 report, 'Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America' signalled a new wave of social…

Child care and early education (CCEE) educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of…

This study analyzes college graduates in the workplace to evaluate the effects of horizontal mismatches between education and jobs on wages and mobility. Using the Heckman-Lee and probit models, this study shows that a gender wage gap still exists. However, the size of the gender wage differential depends on the extent of mismatch. Specifically,…

The United States and Pennsylvania economies are at a pivot point: Will we build forward better or will we build back the same? Will we make things even worse? This report revisits the policy choices that lie ahead. Most of this annual checkup on the Pennsylvania economy, the 26th "State of Working Pennsylvania," presents labor market…

We test for the signaling hypothesis versus the human capital theory using the Wiles test in a country which has experienced a dramatic increase in the supply of skills in a relatively short period of time. For this purpose, we construct a job match index based on the usefulness of school-provided skills and the relevance of the job performed to…

This paper analyses the prevalence of educational mismatch and its effects on wages in Brazil using a large employer-employee dataset. I find that half of the Brazilian labour market is mismatched, with similar proportions of over- and undereducated. Overeducated (undereducated) workers earn significantly lower (higher) than their co-workers who…

Fluctuations in U.S. college football team performance have been shown to have impacts on the student experience. This study explores the long-run implications, examining the impact of college football team performance relative to the period of student attendance on future earnings. Better college football team performance during the early years…

Majoring in business typically pays off. While graduates' earnings and federal student loan debt vary by institution and degree level, the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are roughly 10 times graduates' debt payments two years after program completion. "The Most Popular Degree Pays Off: Ranking the Economic Value of…

Low and stagnant teacher pay has been a perennial issue in the United States public school system since the early decades of the nineteenth century. Women teachers, then as now, confronted the issue head-on by organizing together. For example, women primary school teachers in Boston, Massachusetts successfully petitioned for more pay in 1835, but…

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…