How College Affects Students Getting Jobs

This week’s reading from How College Affects Students introduces an interesting concept for readers, how college affects a student’s ability to get a job. Of course one of the main reasons students go to college is to get a good job but according to Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) there are so many factors that go into getting a job with a college degree. Just like in every other chapter in the book, Chapter 9 starts out with a section describing the change during college for the future employment of students. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) reference studies that found that seniors in college tend to have a better grasp of the realities of the labor market and tend to be better equipped when it comes time for them to enter the ‘real-world’. The authors do throw out the caution that those characteristics of seniors may not be a direct result of college, which seems to be a reoccurring theme with this book. A lot of uncertainty and inconsistencies with data.

The next section in the chapter discusses the net effects of college. In this section the authors talk a lot of about the impact getting a certain degree can have on the occupation success of students. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) give statistically data proving that bachelor’s degrees, associates degrees and vocational certificates give a person a specific advantage over those with just a high school diploma. This data can and should be used to persuade potential students into attending college because they will make more money later in life than they would if they just stayed with a high school diploma. The book also talks about how secondary education positively impacts workforce participation and decreases the probability of unemployment for students. On the flip side of that, some research shows a negative impact on job satisfaction for those with college degrees because of expectations they may have of the job.

The next section, between-college effects presents the most interesting information in the chapter, I think. The authors talk a lot of how institutional selectivity impacts subsequent earnings and occupational placement. According to the book, institutional selectivity has a positive impact on job attainment but only in middle rank jobs, not the highest ranked jobs on the market. This statement is only invalid when it comes to high status jobs like lawyers and doctors because institutional status plays a lot into how well a candidate is viewed in a job search. The chapter also talks about the effects of HBC’s on student employment success and single-sex institutions. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) say that HBCs help to foster ambition in students who attend their universities but do not seem to have any statistically significant impact on student’s future earnings. Single-sex institutions seem to have an impact on fame at work for a women but may also push her towards marrying rich to help support her.

The most interesting point this chapter made was when it talked about progressive conformity. According to the book, progressive conformity refers to when a student picks a major/ field of study that is impacted by the dominant peer group. This term is a new concept to me and is kind of hard to understand. This concept talks to the idea that students who attend a university that has a high percentage of students in a certain major are more likely to go into that major. For example, if a unversity is known for their business department, research shows more students will gravitate towards a degree within the business department.