Time well spent? Overqualification and worker wellbeing in the new economy

• In Event: Reproducing Inequality at Work: Social Psychological Mechanisms (Co-Sponsored by Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section)

Abstract

Employment, in addition to providing economic compensation, provides workers with nonmonetary rewards by conferring status and sense of meaning. However, disadvantageous and nonstandard forms of employment such as employment mismatch may lead to lower subjective wellbeing. Overqualification is a form of employment mismatch in which a worker’s education level surpasses the education required for their occupation. Overqualification has become increasingly common in postindustrial labor markets, yet we know little about the subjective experience of overqualification. While the economic penalty associated with overqualification is well documented, how overqualified workers experience their state of overqualification is less clear. I use novel measures of wellbeing from the nationally representative American Time Use Survey to assess how overqualified workers may differ in multiple dimensions of emotional wellbeing compared to non-overqualified workers. I examine how workers differ in happiness, sadness, stress, pain, and fatigue reported at work and throughout the day. Additionally, I look at how overqualified and non-overqualified workers differ in the meaningfulness they assign to work and nonwork activities. Preliminary results indicate overqualified workers experience more negative emotions at work than non-overqualified workers, though overqualified workers also report less stress. Such findings can provide insights into the social patterning of subjective wellbeing, workplace inequality in postindustrial economies, and the emotional tolls of work.

Author

• Janet Wang, University of Michigan