Is there a wage penalty associated with a degree of indecision in career aspirations?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14301/llcs.v8i3.470Abstract
In this longitudinal study, we test whether varying degrees of indecision about future career choices at age 16 have long-term economic consequences in adulthood, taking into account potential gender differences. Findings from a British cohort born in 1970 indicate that young people who were completely undecided about job choices did experience a wage penalty at age 34 compared to young people who were certain about their job aspirations. This association was significant even after controlling for family socioeconomic status, parental expectations and academic ability at age 16. However, the wage penalty was mediated by educational attainment and part-time employment at age 34. Not being entirely certain about one’s future profession by age 16 seems to be part of a career decision making process which does not necessarily incur a wage penalty for most young people, especially if it involves the acquisition of education qualifications.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who published with Longitudinal and Life Course Studies Volumes 1–9 agreed to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work, simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Following first publication in this Journal, Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal, provided always that no charge is made for its use.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.