This study focuses on the increasing disparities in STEM education achievement and long-term wage earnings of under-represented minority groups. As part of national efforts to improve the diversity of the STEM workforce, this study uses longitudinal data from the University of Houston's Education Research Center (UH-ERC) to examine the effect of…

Using a unique pan-European dataset, we rely on two alternative measures of over-education and control stepwise for four groups of covariates in order to interpret the over-education wage penalty in light of theoretical models. Firstly, it appears that a significant fraction (i.e. between 1/5 and 1/3) of PhD holders in Europe are genuinely…

This dissertation focuses on the structures and impacts of digital skills in the rapidly transforming labor market. It is rooted in the premise that understanding the value of digital skills requires a relational perspective, acknowledging that these competencies are not isolated, but form complex structures across different occupations. The…

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…

Supported employment (SE) and customized employment (CE) are vocational rehabilitation services designed to assist job seekers with significant disabilities to find meaningful competitive integrated employment. We conducted an analysis of Rehabilitation Service Administration (RSA-911) data for fiscal years 2017-2020 to determine the outcomes at…

One of the most important developments in the current era of social sciences is the growing availability and diversity of data, big and small. Social scientists increasingly combine information from multiple data sets in their research. While conducting statistical analyses with linked data is relatively straightforward, borrowing information…

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 economic effects of educational mismatch include its negative impact on economic growth, which is due to the inefficient allocation of resources it generates. The main causes of this phenomenon need to be determined to correctly implement policies to avoid such mismatches. This paper investigated the determinants of educational mismatch from a…

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…

Childhood behavior problems are associated with reduced labor market participation and lower earnings in adulthood, but little is known about the pathways and mechanisms that explain these associations. Drawing on a 33-year prospective birth cohort of White males from low-income backgrounds (n = 1040), we conducted a path analysis linking…