The number of jobs in computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) is projected to grow rapidly in the United States over the next decade as the demand for workers expands and current CS and IT workers retire. Against the larger backdrop of growth in CS and IT employment and wages nationally, Ohio is looking for ways to grow and diversify…

Background: Previous research suggests that school exclusion during childhood is a precursor to social exclusion in adulthood. Past literature on the consequences of school exclusion is, however, scarce and mainly focused on short-term outcomes such as educational attainment, delinquency, and mental health in early adolescence. Moreover, this…

The foundation degree was introduced by David Blunkett in England in the year 2000 to widen participation and raise the skill level of the labour market. Foundation degrees have had some successes in widening participation as they are usually vocation based and appeal to the non-typical student. However, the outlook for the foundation degree is…

The U.S. faces increasing demand for STEM knowledge, contributing to enhanced products, improved health care, more efficient energy sources, a preserved environment, safeguarded national security, and economic growth. In addition, high-paying occupations increasingly require STEM knowledge, and in non-STEM occupations, workers increasingly need…

Offering competitive teacher compensation is an important part of the solution to recruit and retain a strong and diverse teacher workforce. The maps and associated tables that follow show three teacher wage indicators for the nation and each state: (1) average annual starting salary for public school teachers; (2) average annual starting salary…

This dissertation uses three empirical papers to examine the relationship between student gender, student's income expectations for the future, and persistence in schooling. First, I use survey data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) to examine how both children's and parent's earnings expectations for students in 12th grade vary by…

This study uses the 2021 Census to describe the educational attainment and earnings of the Canadian-born Black population, focusing on three groups: (1) those with at least one African-born parent (African-origin); (2) those with at least one Caribbean-born parent (Caribbean-origin) and (3) those whose parents were both born in Canada…

The U.S. manufacturing industry is experiencing a resurgence and faces a growing need for highly skilled workers. Recent reports project that demand for highly-skilled manufacturing workers will outpace supply in coming years, and this shortage may grow as the U.S. manufacturing industry grows and its labor needs shift. Furthermore, manufacturing…

In the liberal egalitarian literature, the concept of talent is inflected according to its use in broader arguments surrounding the nature of justice. In particular, sometimes talent is understood as a desirable inborn property, while at other times it is understood as a matter of inhabiting a favorable social position. Rawls's arguments in…

We study the equity-efficiency implication of giving school districts control over teacher pay using an equilibrium model of the market for public-school teachers. Teachers differ in their comparative advantages in teaching low- or high-achieving students. School districts, which serve different student bodies, use both wage and hiring strategies…

This study measures college quality by the amount by which the college adds to the salary of its students above what the median market value would be for the same majors and student quality. Commonly used national rankings of colleges such as U.S. News and World Report or Forbes are heavily biased by a college's average salaries and the quality of…

The aim of this study is to analyse the differences in employability among Spanish graduates from public or private universities. Private and public universities do not usually have the same profile. In a scenario in which private universities are becoming increasingly important, with mainly high-income students, a greater employability of their…

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in the profession is a matter of significant policy concern. Increasing teacher salaries and creating more attractive compensation packages are often proposed to achieve this goal. However, average real teacher salaries have remained stagnant over the past decade and have not fully recovered from the…

We estimate labor market returns to terminal associate's degrees and certificates, with a particular focus on how returns for different credential types evolve over a longer period of time (eleven years post entry) than most of the prior literature. We also explore how returns vary depending on labor market conditions and on which labor market…

Shifting realities across the world have emphasized the need to change early childhood systems thinking. Specifically, a quality early childhood workforce was in high demand before the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be in demand until sustainable recruitment and retention efforts are achieved. Encouraging more professionals to enter and…