Marginally Credentialed: Racial (and Gendered) Differences in Returns to Degrees by College Selectivity and HBCU-status

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 17. Race and Ethnicity in Education 1

Abstract

Despite many perceptions of the college degree as a gateway to better jobs, greater financial returns and more stable lives for graduates, not all degree holders attain equivalent levels of economic standing. Might labor market stratification partially be a product of inequalities between the institutions where graduates earned their degrees? Where do historically black colleges and universities fall along the institutional spectrum? And what inter and intra racial (and gendered) patterns emerge in regards to economic returns by institutional type? My analyses, drawing on the Educational Longitudinal Survey-2002 (ELS), focus on those completing a terminal baccalaureate degree and who have entered the workforce. Results show that among the most disadvantaged are female graduates of historically black colleges. Additionally, the greatest returns in earnings go to Whites who attended highly selective (high status) institutions, particularly for White men. Findings suggest that more research is needed to better understand how institutional backgrounds in connection with individual-level differences influence labor market outcomes.

Author

• Deborwah Faulk, Ohio State University