Employment Transitions, Earnings, and Race among College-Educated Adults During the Great Recession

• In Event: 571 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. The Construction and Consequences of Identities and Labels

Abstract

This article analyzes individual-level determinants of differences in annual earnings among college-educated adults in United States between 2008 and 2010. Drawing on microdata from the 2010 Survey of College Graduates, the analysis focuses on the relative importance of voluntary and involuntary transitions for differences in annual earnings among those reporting employment in 2008 and in 2010. Relative to highly educated adults who either experienced voluntary job transitions and relative to those who did remain continuously in the same job with the same employer (no transition) involuntary transitions (lay-offs) induce a reduction in earnings. Ye these reductions are only marginally different by race or ethnic background. These findings deepen our understanding of the Great Recession by highlighting its racialized effects among the most highly educated adults in the work force and pose a challenge to sociological arguments that posit the disparate impact on non-White workers of labor market processes during economic crises.

Author

• Harold J. Toro, University of New Mexico