Catching up or Falling Behind? Extended Educational Pathways, Earnings Trajectories, and Inequality Over the Life Course

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8. Pathways and Returns to Higher Education

Abstract

Pathways through higher education have become more variable. The time taken to complete a Bachelor’s degree has extended. But the economic consequences of extended educational pathways are unclear. For example, do individuals who complete a BA later in the life course “catch up” economically to their earlier educated counterparts? Or do later BA completers face earnings penalties, thus falling further behind? I investigate inequality in earnings trajectories by BA timing using data from the NLSY1979 and NLSY1997 cohorts and multilevel growth curve models. Employing augmented inverse probability weights to account for selection, I find that both early and late BA-completers follow similar earnings trajectories upon completing their degree. This translates into shrinking earnings inequality between these groups over the life course. My findings also reveal important differences across cohorts. Despite inequalities in educational pathways, I show that a Bachelor’s degree continues to be an equalizing lever in American society.

Author

• Jane Furey, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor