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The benefits of high school experiences on growth in occupational status in U.S.

  • Kyung-Nyun Kim
  • David L. Passmore
Article
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Abstract

In this study, we investigated high school graduates’ school-to-work transition by considering their post-school occupational skill levels. Using an ordinal growth model analysis, occupational status increased in an arch-shaped curve as the number of years after high school graduation also increased. This growth trajectory was further related to the presence of training certificates, parental education levels, cognitive ability, and gender. The course of study did not significantly relate to occupational status. Participation in work-based education, including cooperative and mentor programs, related to the likelihood of students advancing to high-skill-level occupations. Further, we applied propensity score weighting to deal with plausible sample selection bias.

Keywords

Work-bound students School-to-work programs Skill-level of occupation 

Résumé

Les bénéfices des expériences au lycée sur la croissance du statut professionnel aux États-Unis. Dans cette étude, nous avons étudié la transition école-emploi des diplômés du lycée en considérant leurs niveaux de compétences professionnelles après le lycée. Suivant un modèle d’analyse ordinal de croissance, alors que le nombre d’années après avoir obtenu son diplôme au lycée augmentait, le statut professionnel s’élevait en suivant une courbe en forme d’arche. De plus, cette trajectoire de croissance était liée à la présence de certificats de perfectionnement, au niveau de formation des parents, aux capacités cognitives, et au genre. Le cursus de formation n’était pas significativement lié au statut professionnel. La participation à des formations sur le lieu de travail, incluant des programmes coopératifs et de mentorat, est associée à la probabilité d’un avancement pour les étudiants vers des emplois à compétences élevées. Finalement, nous avons appliqué une pondération par le score de propension, afin de répondre au biais plausible dans la sélection de l’échantillon.

Zusammenfassung

Die Vorteile von High School Erfahrungen für das Wachstum in beruflichem Status in den USA. In dieser Studie untersuchten wir den Übergang von der Schule in die Arbeit von high school Absolventen, durch die Berücksichtigung ihres Berufsqualifikationsniveaus nach der Schule. In der Analyse eines ordinalen Wachstumsmodelles erhöhte sich der Status im Beruf sowie die Anzahl Jahre nach dem high school Abschluss in einer bogenförmigen Kurve. Dieser Wachstumskurs wurde weiter mit dem Vorhandensein von Ausbildungsnachweisen, dem elterlichen Bildungsniveau, kognitiven Fähigkeiten und dem Geschlecht in Zusammenhang gebracht. Der Studiengang wies keinen signifikanten Zusammenhang zum beruflichen Status auf. Die Teilnahme an arbeitsbezogenen Ausbildungen, einschließlich Kooperativen- und Mentorenprogrammen, erhöhte die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Schülern in hochqualifizierte Berufe aufzusteigen. Ferner wandten wir Propensity Score Gewichtung an, um mit plausiblen Stichproben Verzerrungen umzugehen.

Resumen

Beneficios de las experiencias de educación secundaria sobre el aumento del estatus ocupacional en los Estados Unidos. En este estudio se investigó la transición de la escuela al trabajo de los estudiantes de secundaria, considerando el nivel de sus habilidades ocupacionales post-escuela. Utilizando un modelo de análisis de crecimiento ordinal, el estatus ocupacional aumentó en forma de arco curvado a medida que también aumentaba el número de años desde la graduación de la educación secundaria. Esta trayectoria de crecimiento se relacionó además con la existencia de certificados de formación, el nivel de educación de los padres, la habilidad cognitiva y el género. El tipo de estudios cursados no mostró una relación significativa con el estatus ocupacional. La participación en formación basada en el trabajo, incluidos los programas de cooperación y de mentoring, sí se relacionó con la probabilidad de que los estudiantes avanzaran hacia ocupaciones que requerían un elevado nivel de habilidad.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & TrainingSeoulSouth Korea
  2. 2.The Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkUSA

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