ERIC Number: EJ1264888
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-4222
EISSN: N/A
What if a College Major Isn't Enough? Cognitive Skills and the Relationship between US College Majors and Earnings
Ford, Karly S.; Choi, Junghee; Baker, David P.
Industry and Higher Education, v34 n6 p410-420 Dec 2020
Policy discussions in the United States on the link between college majors and earnings have under-appreciated the role of cognitive skills. This study uses the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, a unique data set that contains information on individual cognitive skills, college majors and earnings to investigate the relationships between them. The authors find that variation in numeracy and literacy skills is significantly associated with earnings for graduates of the same major. Also, there is an interactional effect between majors and cognitive skills to explain earnings. The findings shed light on the importance of considering cognitive skills when assessing the relationship between college majors and labour market outcomes.
Descriptors: Majors (Students), Thinking Skills, Numeracy, Literacy, Income, College Graduates, Labor Market, Human Capital, Adults
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A