The Relationship Between Non-employment and Respondent Personal Charasterics, College Major, GPA and Work Experience Among 1992-1993 College Graduates
Open Access
Author:
Conn, Robert Edward
Graduate Program:
Workforce Education and Development
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
February 18, 2004
Committee Members:
David Lynn Passmore, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Kenneth Gray, Committee Member Elwood Lewis Shafer, Committee Member William J Rothwell, Committee Member
Keywords:
work experience college major GPA non-employment baccalaureate degree employment outcomes race gender financial aid age
Abstract:
This study used event history and multinomial logistic regression analysis to determine whether a relationship exists between both the number of spells and the duration of non-employment and respondent personal characteristics, college major, GPA and work experience among a nationally-representative sample of graduates who received a bachelor's degree in the 1992-1993 academic year.
Longitudinal data from the National Center for Education Statistics called Baccalaureate and Beyond were used. Retrospective work history for four years after graduation was examined and the frequency and duration of non-employment spells were totaled for a subsample of 8254 college graduates. Six research questions were developed to examine the B&B:93/97 data by using two statistical procedures and by drilling down into the data by different personal characteristics such as race and gender. With the exception of GPA, significant relationships were discovered between non-employment and the independent variables. Surprisingly-strong relationships were discovered between both the duration and number of spells of non-employment and the number of jobs held prior to graduation. Implications based on these findings and areas for further research are included.