Title

Occupational Careers of Young Women

Author(s)

Sigal Alon Sigal Alon (Princeton University)

Marta Tienda Marta Tienda (Princeton University)

Abstract

Occupational exchanges are a pervasive feature of the U.S. labor market as millions of persons change their occupation in any given year; the majority do so voluntarily, seeking better pay, job advancement, or improved working conditions. Yet it is unclear what share of these changes are chaotic and which represent leading to a systematic sequence of upward mobility. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (WorkHistory file) we examine the occupational careers of young women and find striking differences in the timing and frequency of occupational changes according to levels of education, particularly between college graduates and those with less than high school education. "Career trees" for most frequent occupational paths reveal that systematic occupational trajectories do exist, although with varying degrees of orderliness. We discover four modal career types based on the amount of schooling acquired. We conclude that the complex nature of women's occupational careers is simplified by our focus on their educational attainment.

Creation Date

2000-08

Section URL ID

OPR

Paper Number

opr0005.pdf

URL

https://web.archive.org/web/20150906191047/http://opr.princeton.edu/papers/opr0005.pdf

File Function

Jel

J16

Keyword(s)

NLSY, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Suppress

false

Series

11