1. Work Matters Consequences of High School Employment on College Attendance Irina Voloshin University of Washington UW-Beyond High School Project Workshop October 19 th, 2007

2. The Life of a High School Senior

3. An Often-Neglected Component of the High School Experience

4. Presentation Overview Theoretical Framework Measuring Work: Salient Dimensions of the Teen Labor Market UW-BHS Data on Student Employment Descriptive and Multivariate Findings Preliminary Conclusions

5. Theories About Consequences of Teen Work Is work a ‘Zero-Sum’ or ‘Plus-Sum’ Game? –Can work and school be effectively combined? Positive Socialization or Rote Tasks? –Can jobs impart skills and habits that facilitate academic orientation and achievement?

6. Dimensions of Student Employment Work Status: Is student currently employed? Work Intensity: How many hours per week does the student work, on average? Occupational Type: Employer (company or private) of the student Employer’s main commercial activity Student’s job title Student’s most important activities as part of his/her job

7. Survey Questions: Employment Status

8. Survey Questions: Type of Work

9. UW-BHS Data and Job Type Measures Self-reported employer and job information from which we code students into three job categories utilizing the 2000 Census Industrial and Occupational Classification: “Typical Teen Jobs” (food service, retail/sales, personal services) “Blue Collar Jobs” (packing/shipping, warehouse work, factory work, landscaping work) “White/Pink Collar Jobs” (office work, tutoring, lifeguards)

10. Are Working Students Different from Non-Workers? 52% of sample employed Characteristics of workers: –59% Female –62% White –72% Third Generation + –38% Parents have at least a 4-year degree –33% Expect a graduate/professional degree

11. Work Intensity and Student Characteristics

12. Type of Work and Student Characteristics

13. Our Research Design Dimensions of Employment College Enrollment: 4-year 2-year No College We Account For: Timing Selectivity into Work We Identify: Key aspects of student jobs Net effects of employment Background and Academic Student Characteristics Work Status Work Intensity (hrs/wk) Occupation

14. Descriptive Findings: Work Intensity and College Attendance

15. Descriptive Findings: Job Type and College Attendance

16. Results from Multivariate Models Holding constant gender, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, schools, background SES, academic achievement and expectations of students, we find that: Work Status per se does NOT have an effect Work Characteristics (both the work intensity and the quality of student jobs) DO significantly impact college attendance

17. Results from Multivariate Models: Work Intensity Low Work Intensity (less than 12 hours) is associated with greater likelihood of attending college –Over 3 times more likely to attend a 4-year college than not attend college at all –Over 1.5 times more likely to attend a 2-year college High Work Intensity (over 20 hours) is associated with lower likelihood of post- secondary enrollment

18. Results from Multivariate Models: Job Type Students in White/Pink collar jobs are more likely to go to a 4-year university than those in typical teen jobs or in blue collar jobs Blue collar workers are slightly more likely to report no post-secondary enrollment

19. Conclusions While work status in itself does not affect college enrollment one year after high school graduation, work intensity and job type do. Low work intensity and jobs with greater responsibility and task differentiation are positively related to 4-year college attendance High work intensity (especially more than 26 hours per week) and typical teen jobs are associated with lower post-secondary academic attainment How will these results hold up for college graduation? Occupational attainment after college? Stay tuned…