The Impact of Pre-Professional Activities on Alumnx Job Quality: An Examination Using Structural Equation Modeling

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: Institutional Mechanics: Navigating Recruitment, Admissions, and Accessibility (Table 1)

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been significant criticism that students receiving liberal arts education are less successful in their post-graduate employment than students in applied or vocationally-oriented fields (Kleinman, 2016). We seek to combat this narrative and expand existing research on the effects of higher education on students’ career outcomes by interrogating the quality of post-graduate employment through a multi-faceted conceptualization of job quality. Our results reinforce the importance of high impact practices such as internships and participating in faculty research although frequency of engagement differed by major and students race. Additionally, our results demonstrate the importance of the quality of a graduate’s first job in their career trajectory, with a strongest relationship between first and current job quality.

Authors

• Amanda J. Davis Simpfenderfer, College of William & Mary
  Presenting Author

• Gregory C. Wolniak, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen Wise, Wabash College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charles Blaich, Wabash College
  Non-Presenting Author