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Is there a wage penalty associated to degree of indecision in career aspirations: Evidence from the BCS70

Sabates, R; Gutman, LM; Schoon, I; (2017) Is there a wage penalty associated to degree of indecision in career aspirations: Evidence from the BCS70. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies , 8 (3) pp. 290-306. 10.14301/llcs.v8i3.470. Green open access

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Abstract

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

Type: Article
Title: Is there a wage penalty associated to degree of indecision in career aspirations: Evidence from the BCS70
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.14301/llcs.v8i3.470
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.14301/llcs.v8i3.470
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: career indecision; career aspirations; earnings; 1970 British Cohort; Britain
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1566951
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