Search Results

Title: High School Employment
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Light, Audrey L.
High School Employment
NLS Discussion Paper No. 95-27, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington DC, June 1995.
Also: http://stats.bls.gov/ore/abstract/nl/nl950060.htm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Career Patterns; Employment, In-School; High School; Wages, Youth; Youth Services

This study addresses a question that, despite its apparent simplicity, has yet to be satisfactorily answered by social scientists: Does holding a job while enrolled in high school enhance, detract from, or have no effect on subsequent career outcomes? From a theoretical perspective, high school employment has an ambiguous effect on career outcomes. On one hand, it may give students a "leg up" in their subsequent careers by providing them with marketable skills, good work habits, and knowledge of the world of work. On the other hand, high school employment may indirectly hinder subsequent employment opportunities by preventing students from performing as well in high school as they otherwise would. In light of the widely documented difficulties faced by many youths in transiting from school to a permanent, productive position in the labor force, it is important to know which effect dominates. After all, public policy can readily be directed toward helping high school students gain employment (by providing job placement services, for example) or, as appropriate, toward discouraging such activities. The current study focuses exclusively on the relationship between high school employment and subsequent average hourly wages rather than considering a broad array of career outcomes. However, it contends with the complexity of this single relationship in ways that previous research does not.
Bibliography Citation
Light, Audrey L. "High School Employment." NLS Discussion Paper No. 95-27, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington DC, June 1995.