This dissertation focuses on the structures and impacts of digital skills in the rapidly transforming labor market. It is rooted in the premise that understanding the value of digital skills requires a relational perspective, acknowledging that these competencies are not isolated, but form complex structures across different occupations. The…

How have inequalities in job stability evolved in the twenty-first century between demographic groups? I compute expected job tenures, akin to life expectancy in demographic research, for the population as a whole and by subgroups defined by selected ascribed characteristics (sex, race, and ethnicity) over biennial periods from 1996 to 2020.…

One of the main challenges in modern labour markets is to improve the mobility and employability of workers among workplaces, jobs and roles. This paper explores the factors that might influence people's beliefs about and attitudes towards the mechanisms for improving employability through training. We develop a research model and test it in…

In this study, Chinese female Ph.D. returnees' diasporic experience when entering into the domestic academic job market (DAJM) was examined from an ecological environment perspective. This was realized through an autoethnographic narrative of the author's lived experience of entering the DAJM during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a recollection of…

The Erasmus programme represents one of the most popular policy measures of the European Union among its citizens. The aim of this paper is to explore the causal effect of this mobility action on labour market outcomes and skills' development in Spain. In order to do so, this research exploits the Spanish University Students Employability Survey…

Research on the career trajectories of doctoral recipients often assumes that all PhD students begin in roughly the same starting position. Consequently, the impact of pre-programme experiences remains understudied. This qualitative study draws on 59 interviews with PhD students studying in mainland China and Hong Kong to explore the influence of…

Based on interviews with sixty- one working- class men in rural Pennsylvania, this article explores the ways in which rural, working- class men do--and do not--seek to improve their labor- market positions by getting additional education or training, moving, or taking gender- atypical jobs. The evidence presented shows that men are making many…

The phenomenological methodology employed in this dissertation delves into the intricate interplay between stress, mental health, and socioeconomic mobility among Black individuals in the United States. This study aimed to shed light on the complex difficulties experienced by Black people navigating surroundings, mostly White, in academic and…

This summary of the policy brief "Leaks in the Educator Pipeline: Wisconsin Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Completers Working in Illinois and Minnesota Public Schools" examines one type of "leak" in the Wisconsin educator pipeline. The source of these "leaks" are recent graduates from one of the state's 40+…

This paper investigates to what extent the returns to a PhD depend upon the region of birth and the place of work. We examine the career paths of eastern and western German PhD graduates and estimate the returns to obtaining a job suited to their skill level and with high wages. Our data set combines information on graduates and their place of…

This policy brief examines one type of "leak" in the Wisconsin educator pipeline, a leak in the number of recent graduates from one of the state's 40+ educator preparation programs (EPPs) electing to work in Illinois or Minnesota public schools. While this group is numerically small, with just 38 Wisconsin 2017-18 EPP completers working…

This dissertation consists of three chapters. Chapter one explores the causal relationship between adverse health conditions and research-related activities/career outcomes by assessing the dynamic impacts of functional limitations for the U.S. trained doctoral recipient population. Using the restricted Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of…

In many countries around the world, the number of new doctorate recipients graduating from universities has grown sharply in the past few decades, but the implications of this expansion for the employment situation of doctorate recipients remain largely unexplored in longitudinal studies. In Germany, as in various other countries, the expansion of…

Better-educated workers form many more long-distance job matches, and they move more quickly following local employment shocks. I argue this is a consequence of larger dispersion in wage offers, independent of geography. In a frictional market, this generates larger surpluses for workers in new matches, which can better justify the cost of moving…

A postsecondary degree is widely promoted as a great intergenerational economic equalizer for individuals born into disadvantaged economic circumstances. Yet, there is little empirical evidence documenting the extent that this may be true and whether people from all racial and ethnic, and language backgrounds are benefitting equally. We provide a…