ERIC Number: ED665385
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Dec
Pages: 46
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Architecture of Expected Wage Gaps: Between- and Within-School Sources of Career Education Inequality
Kenneth A. Shores; Hojung Lee; Arielle Lentz
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Using administrative data from Delaware and aggregate occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this paper examines expected wage inequality in Career and Technical Education (CTE) by analyzing how student demographics relate to selection into programs of study (POS) with different expected wages. Through multilevel mixed-effects modeling, we find substantial gaps in expected wages across student subgroups, with traditionally disadvantaged students selecting into lower-wage pathways. Our decomposition analyses reveal that gender wage gaps primarily stem from within-school factors, while racial and socioeconomic gaps are largely driven by between-school differences. Investigating potential mechanisms, we find that student selection patterns into POS contribute more to these inequalities than schools' program offerings. These results suggest that policy interventions should be tailored by subgroup: addressing within-school practices for gender gaps while focusing on between-school resources and supports for racial and socioeconomic disparities. The findings demonstrate how early career preferences may contribute to eventual wage inequality and highlight opportunities for targeted early intervention.
Descriptors: Salary Wage Differentials, Career and Technical Education, Student Characteristics, Career Pathways, Disadvantaged, Gender Differences, Racial Differences, Social Differences, Institutional Characteristics
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Identifiers - Location: Delaware
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A