Employing NCES databases, we investigate how college selectivity influences job satisfaction and prestige from the 1970s to the 1990s and across different racial categories. We find that the effect of college selectivity has essentially disappeared over time and that minority students are particularly disadvantaged with respect to job satisfaction.

This report provides guidance and documentation for users of the combined base-year to third follow-up data of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002). ELS:2002 is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The base-year and follow-up studies…

The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) tracks the educational and developmental experiences of a nationally representative sample of high school sophomores in the United States. This First Look report provides a descriptive portrait of these 2002 tenth-graders a decade later, when most were about 26 years old and had been out of high…

Comparison of young adults' occupational aspirations during the first seven years after high school with occupations held at age 30 showed that, no matter when expectations were measured, fewer than half achieved their aspirations. Among those who do not, men tend to move to higher occupations/positions, whereas women move down or leave the labor…

Data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and follow-up surveys through 1979 were used to explore career and educational patterns of two groups of women: those who received their high school education in rural areas and remained, and those who left for larger communities. Over 40% of the sample were…

A study examined the effects of participation in a high school agricultural education program on occupational attainment. Using data collected in the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, researchers compared the employment patterns and income of 6,585 individuals who had taken at least one semester of agricultural…

Scholars of sex differentials in attainment in the labor market have long looked to the division of labor in the family--especially childbearing and rearing--as one source of these differentials. This study assesses the effects of the first birth on the career orientation and job characteristics of young adult males and females, using data from…

Employment characteristics reported 30 months after graduation by over 1,000 respondents to the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) were related to high school achievement on the Student Test Book of the NLS. Although respondents did not take a minimum competency test, experts agreed that the Student Test Book would…

At the time of the First Followup Survey, approximately 18 months after graduation, sixty-five percent of the members of the High School Class of 1972 were unemployed, and eight percent were out of work. Forty-two percent were taking academic courses in a college or university. Graduates of the vocational high school curriculum were employed at…

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between participation in secondary marketing and distributive education (MDE) and economic attainment after high school. Specifically, the study sought to develop a model of economic attainment, i.e., job status attainment, unemployment, and wages for secondary MDE students. The study used the…

Examines some important noncognitive outcomes of school desegregation using national survey data. The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and other national studies show that desegregated schooling has a positive, statistically significant benefit for black students' later earnings and occupational attainment. (SLD)

The way that the educational and occupational attainment of Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics are affected by the type of college attended and the student's field of study was investigated. The effects of attending a two-year/vocational college versus a four-year college and of pursuing a technical or hard science program versus education and social…

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 to examine factors influencing the educational and occupational attainment of American women. The longitudinal study followed 2,160 seniors from 1,200 schools for 14 years after high school graduation. A variation of the Wisconsin model, which examined…

This report examines the extent and process by which rural origins may affect socioeconomic attainments in adulthood and how these "costs" have changed during this century. Introductory sections review research and theories of rural differentiation and stratification and the history of major federal policy initiatives for rural…

The effects of the nature of the college/university on students' academic persistence and attainment, achievement goals, and occupational attainment were studied. Students entering academic programs at two- or four-year colleges by fall 1974 were studied using findings of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972.…