TY - JOUR
T1 - Field of Study in College and Lifetime Earnings in the United States
AU - Kim, Chang Hwan
AU - Tamborini, Christopher R.
AU - Sakamoto, Arthur
N1 - The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institute of Health (1R03HD073464) and the Spencer Foundation (201400077).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, © American Sociological Association 2015.
PY - 2015/10
Y1 - 2015/10
N2 - Our understanding about the relationship between education and lifetime earnings often neglects differences by field of study. Utilizing data that match respondents in the Survey of Income and Program Participation to their longitudinal earnings records based on administrative tax information, we investigate the trajectories of annual earnings following the same individuals over 20 years and then estimate the long-term effects of field of study on earnings for U.S. men and women. Our results provide new evidence revealing large lifetime earnings gaps across fields of study. We show important differences in individuals’ earnings trajectories across different stages of the work life by field of study. In addition, the gaps in 40-year (i.e., ages 20 to 59) median lifetime earnings among college graduates by field of study are larger, in many instances, than the median gap between high school graduates and college graduates overall. We also find significant variation among graduate degree holders. Our results uncover important similarities and differences between men and women with regard to the long-term earnings differentials associated with field of study. In general, these findings underscore field of study as a critical dimension of horizontal stratification in educational attainment.
AB - Our understanding about the relationship between education and lifetime earnings often neglects differences by field of study. Utilizing data that match respondents in the Survey of Income and Program Participation to their longitudinal earnings records based on administrative tax information, we investigate the trajectories of annual earnings following the same individuals over 20 years and then estimate the long-term effects of field of study on earnings for U.S. men and women. Our results provide new evidence revealing large lifetime earnings gaps across fields of study. We show important differences in individuals’ earnings trajectories across different stages of the work life by field of study. In addition, the gaps in 40-year (i.e., ages 20 to 59) median lifetime earnings among college graduates by field of study are larger, in many instances, than the median gap between high school graduates and college graduates overall. We also find significant variation among graduate degree holders. Our results uncover important similarities and differences between men and women with regard to the long-term earnings differentials associated with field of study. In general, these findings underscore field of study as a critical dimension of horizontal stratification in educational attainment.
KW - educational attainment
KW - field of study
KW - lifetime earnings
KW - semisynthetic cohort method
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942079727&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0038040715602132
DO - 10.1177/0038040715602132
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84942079727
SN - 0038-0407
VL - 88
SP - 320
EP - 339
JO - Sociology of Education
JF - Sociology of Education
IS - 4
ER -