Doubling Up: Analyzing the Educational and Employment Trajectories of High School Longitudinal Study Youth

• In Event: Working Learners: Challenges and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Practice

Abstract

Consistent with a wider society that holds higher education as the key to getting ahead, the vast majority of high schoolers of all social backgrounds today expect to enroll in postsecondary education en route to their career goals. However, students’ entry into the labor market often precedes the completion of their studies. Yet, little is known about the work experiences of high schoolers or the extent to which trajectories of schooling and work align during this period. Without meaningful data, pressing questions arise concerning what exactly young working learners’ dual status as both students and workers may indicate about their future pathways. In particular, to what extent does working during high school indicate effort to gain skills or relevant experience, a much-needed source of income, or an orientation towards work rather than higher education?

In this spirit, this analysis uses nationally representative data from the U.S. Department of Education to paint a descriptive portrait of working learners attending U.S. high schools in comparison to their nonworking peers. In doing so, it examines their demographic characteristics, low-income status, and academic preparation for college. Furthermore, it examines the extent to which their plans for the future align with their experiences both in school and at work.

The High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) is the most recent nationally representative, longitudinal study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Aimed at elucidating students’ trajectories through high school and into postsecondary education and the labor force, the 2012 wave of the HSLS surveyed approximately 20,590 high school juniors (11th graders) at 939 schools. This study draws comparisons between the HSLS students based on their work intensity – whether they have never worked during high school (52% of students), have worked fewer than fifteen hours per week (23%), or have worked more than fifteen hours per week (25%) – and their demographic characteristics, low-income status, and academic preparation for college.

Preliminary results suggest that the relationship between work intensity and academic preparation for college varies by low-income status. Specifically, although the most academically advantaged students from more affluent families are those who work fewer than 15 hours weekly, the most promising low-income students are those who work more than 15 hours. One way to interpret this finding is that the most determined low-income students may engage more intensely with both paid work and academics as a strategy out of poverty whereas work during high school may pose diminishing returns for students not facing poverty.

Author

• Sarah Blanchard, The University of Texas