This study examined students' participation in college and career preparation activities in high school, and the relationship between participation in these activities and students' education and work attainment within one year of high school graduation. This study used the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:2009) dataset and…

Letters of recommendation are commonly used to assess the potential of undergraduate students to be successful undergraduate research assistants/interns or their potential as graduate students. However, there is evidence to suggest that reference letters can include unconscious (or implicit) bias that can affect decisions and limit opportunities…

This report describes the findings of a nationally representative sample of 544 recent high school graduates from the classes of 2006 through 2011. The purpose of this study is to understand how recent high school graduates who are not attending college full time are faring in the workforce, specifically looking at those individuals who graduated…

Background: Massive retirements, increased expectations, and mounting political pressures have resulted in a diminished talent pool for school superintendents. For school boards of the 124 school districts on Long Island, New York, the selection of a superintendent has been further complicated by sky-rocketing taxes and scandals leading to an…

A pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of EnvisionIT, a 10-unit web-based curriculum designed to teach secondary students information technology (IT) skills in the context of transition-planning activities. Fifteen high schools were stratified by socioeconomic status and randomly assigned to the…

Surveys college graduates regarding their job-seeking behaviors and outcomes. Examined race and sex differences among the job search strategies used; number of job interviews; number of job offers; annual salary; and job satisfaction. Results indicated significant differences in underemployment and job satisfaction as a function of race, and in…

Used a racially mixed sample (N=1,400) of store clerks to examine the relationship between recruiting source and employee success. Results suggest that for Whites, informal recruiting sources (e.g., employee referrals, in-store notices) were associated with longer tenure. For Blacks, more formal sources (e.g., employment agencies, media…

A number of hypotheses concerning the job search behavior of unemployed workers are tested in this study. The empirical literature on unemployment is reviewed and data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Force Behavior panels of young men (aged 14 to 24 in 1966) and middle-aged men (aged 45 to 59) are analyzed. Variables examined…

The labor market in many Western countries increasingly diversifies. However, little is known about job search behavior of ''non-traditional'' applicants such as ethnic minorities. This study investigated minority-majority group differences in the predictors of job search behavior, using the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985). Data were…

A three-year follow-up of a national sample of 419 youth employment training program participants and 356 nonparticipants of comparable background showed that participants obtained more months of employment and had greater job satisfaction. Program effectiveness was greater for minority than nonminority youth and greater for females than male.…

The six papers which comprise this report analyze the labor market experience of youth as reflected in the 1982 results of a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 32.9 million young people who were ages 14-21 as of January 1, 1979. Chapter 1, "The Nature and Consequences of High School Employment," by Ronald D'Amico…

This paper presents evidence on the high unemployment rates for black youths and considers reasons for the widening gap in the labor market experience of black and white youth. The paper consists of five sections. In the first, historical evidence on the declining rate of black youth employment over the last 25 years is summarized. In the second…

This study presents and tests an econometric model of job search behavior for youth. The main hypothesis is that differences in search behavior help account for youth-adult employment differences and that within the youth group, black-white unemployment and earnings differentials can be partially explained by job search behavior. Endogenous…

Employer recruitment methods and how their use varies by race and sex groups, by public and private sector, by education level, and other variables were studied to develop and examine more realistic theories of education's role in career development processes and to develop practical ways to help students make a successful transition from school…

This paper examines whether a geographic skills mismatch exists between the location of less-educated minorities, in particular African Americans, and high-skill job concentrations, and if so, whether it contributes to the relatively poor employment outcomes of this group. It explores these questions by examining data on the recent geographic…