Major Decision: Earnings Differentials across Field of Study over Quantile

• In Event: 3429 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 29. Wage, Employment, Occupational Outcomes

Abstract

As higher education has expanded over time, horizontal stratification in education attainment has become a significant issue. A critical dimension of interest centers on differences in labor market outcomes by fields of study. Using the 1996, 2004, and 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation data matched with longitudinal tax information, this study examines lifecycle earnings patterns by field of study for individuals in the baby boom cohort. A key question addresses the extent to which the earnings differentials by fields of study vary at different points of the earnings distribution using a quantile regression approach. We find evidence that the earnings gap by fields of study are not constant across the distribution. Among bachelor degree holders, fields of study tended to have greater earnings effects at lower quantiles. The earnings gap between less lucrative majors, such as liberal arts, with majors associated with higher earnings, such as STEM, increased at lower quantiles and narrowed systematically toward the higher quantiles. Among graduate degree holders, the earnings gap associated with lucrative fields such as law and MBA increased at the higher quantiles. The results also show relatively stable patterns over prime-age working years, but there are several noticeable changes when younger and older stages are compared. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Authors

• ChangHwan Kim, University of Kansas

• Christopher R. Tamborini, U.S. Social Security Administration