Educational Downgrading: Adult Education and Downward Mobility

2021 ◽  
pp. 003804072098289
Author(s):  
Corey Moss-Pech ◽  
Steven H. Lopez ◽  
Laurie Michaels
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Precarious Labor ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Returning To School

Scholarship on adult education throughout the life course focuses on the relationship between education and upward mobility. Scholars rarely examine how adults’ educational aspirations or trajectories are affected by downward mobility or an increasingly precarious labor market. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with 21 job seekers in the post–Great Recession labor market in the United States, this article advances the concept of educational downgrading: returning to school in pursuit of a credential lower than the highest level of education one previously sought or attained. We explore three pathways to downgrading connected to downward mobility: occupational dead ends, career reversals, and educational inflation. In the process, we highlight how individuals adjust their practical educational aspirations as they navigate a contemporary economy in which careers are unstable and credentials are needed for many kinds of jobs across the occupational hierarchy.

“No Place for Old Men”: Immigrant Duration, Wage Theft, and Economic Mobility among Day Laborers in Denver, Colorado

2021 ◽  
pp. 019791832110013
Author(s):  
Rebecca Galemba ◽  
Randall Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The United States ◽  
Day Laborers ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Day Labor ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Recent Immigrants ◽  
Wage Theft ◽  
Long Duration

Day laborers are a highly vulnerable population, due to their contingent work arrangements, low socioeconomic position, and precarious immigration status. Earlier studies posited day labor as a temporary bridge for recent immigrants to achieve more stable employment, but recent studies have observed increasing duration of residence in the United States among foreign-born day laborers. This article draws on 170 qualitative interviews and a multi-venue, year-long street corner survey of 411 day laborers in the Denver metropolitan area to analyze how duration in the United States affects day laborers’ wages, work, and wage theft experiences. Compared to recent immigrants, foreign-born day laborers with longer duration in the United States, we found, worked fewer hours and had lower total earnings but also had higher hourly wages and lower exposure to wage theft. We draw on qualitative interviews to address whether this pattern represented weathering, negative selection, or greater discernment. Rather than upward or downward mobility, long duration immigrant day labors had more jagged incorporations experiences. Interviews suggest that day laborers draw on experience to mitigate the risk of wage theft but that the value of experience is undercut by the fierce competition of daily recruitment, ultimately highlighting the compounding vulnerabilities facing longer duration and older immigrant day laborers. The article highlights duration as an understudied precarity factor which can adversely impact the economic assimilation of long duration immigrants who persist in contingent markets like day labor.

Gender, Work, and Family in Cuba: The Challenges of the Special Period

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 32-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maura I. Toro-Morn ◽  
Anne R. Roschelle ◽  
Elisa Facio
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Women Workers ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Special Period ◽  
Downward Mobility

It is within the context of the Special Period, the economic crisis that began in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the economic blockade by the United States, that we analyze work and family relations in Cuba. Although women made significant gains in the labor market after the Revolution, the Special Period has eroded many of these gains. Using interviews collected in Cuba, we document the struggles that women workers encountered in order to continue to support their families and stay in the labor market. The growth of jobs in the tourist sector has led to worker redistribution and occupational downward mobility, as workers moved from professional to less skilled jobs in the tourism industry with little opportunities for mobility. We also capture how the Special Period has impacted Cuban families. Despite state attempts to legislate gender equity within the family, patriarchy was never fully eradicated in the home. This failure of the revolutionary project has been exacerbated by the country’s current economic crisis. The burden of this crisis has fallen more heavily on women who continue to shoulder the responsibility for household work and childcare.

scholarly journals The Structure of Labor Markets in the US and China: Social Capital andGuanxi

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy DiTomaso ◽  
Yanjie Bian
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Differences

ABSTRACTDespite the major cultural and political differences between the United States and China, in both countries access to jobs is supposed to be guided by fair and equitable procedures. In the US, there is a presumption of an open labor market in which potential employees compete on the basis of their qualifications, where the fairness of decisions is guided by anti-discrimination laws and normative organizational policies. In China, although there is a history of close relationships that guide the exchange of favors, following the 1949 revolution, Communist Party leaders were given the authority to allocate positions in ways that were supposed to eliminate special privileges of class and background. Yet recent research has suggested that social connections are an important part of getting a job in both the US and China for two-thirds to three-quarters of job seekers. In the US context, such connections are described as social capital. In the Chinese context, connections are defined asguanxi. In this article, we review research on labor market processes in both the US and China to address three important questions: (a) How can we understand the similar functioning of labor markets in such distinct cultural and political systems as the US and China? (b) What are the mechanisms or processes by which people find jobs in the US and China, and how are people able to access these mechanisms or processes in the context of constraining social structures and legal environments? and (c) What are the theoretical implications of the ‘generalized particularism’ that seems to shape labor markets in both the US and China.

Social Capital Activation and Job Searching: Embedding the Use of Weak Ties in the American Institutional Context

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofer Sharone
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
White Collar ◽  
The United States ◽  
Labor Market Institutions ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Job Searching ◽  
Depth Interviews

By comparing job seekers’ use of weak ties in Israel and the United States, this article shows that Granovetter’s canonical findings are rooted in the particular institutional context of the American white-collar labor market. Drawing on in-depth interviews with three distinct groups of white-collar job seekers: Americans searching in the United States, Israelis searching in Israel, and Israelis searching in the United States, this article untangles cultural and institutional factors underlying the use of weak ties and shows how labor market institutions and processes of hiring shape systematic variations in job seekers’ utilization of weak ties.

Intergenerational Mobility and Changes in Drug Use Across the Life Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Dennison
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Intergenerational Mobility ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course

The consequences of “falling from grace”—or experiencing downward intergenerational mobility—are indeed becoming an abrupt reality for many entering the labor force. Scholars of social mobility speculate that such life course trajectories can result in antisocial behavior, but few have examined whether these trajectories lead to drug use. Thus, with the United States in the midst of a drug epidemic, as well as recovering from an economic recession, the study of social mobility may contribute to a better understanding of what causes individuals to turn to drugs. Using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and a series of logistic diagonal reference models, this study examines the association between intergenerational social mobility and drug use. Overall, I find evidence that downward mobility is associated with increases in drug use, with the relationship strongest among those experiencing the greatest loss in status.

scholarly journals Diversification of Structural and Content Peculiarities of Non-Formal Adult Education in the USA and Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Olena Terenko
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
The United States ◽  
University Education ◽  
The Usa

AbstractTypes of non-formal adult education in the USA and Canada are singled out. Non-formal adult education in the United States and Canada is subdivided into basic adult education, education for professional development, education for personal development, specialized adult education, education for the development of civil society (constituents of which are education for peace, citizenship and democracy; education for protection of environment; multicultural education). The purpose and main assignments of adult education for professional development are systematized. The purpose is professional development, meeting the needs of personal development, self-actualization and self-realization in professional life. Its main tasks are: formation of positive attitude to professional work and motivation for professional growth; enriching social and professional competence; development of adequate professional conduct. Types of educational establishments for adults are systematized. University colleges, community colleges, colleges of general and vocational education, colleges of applied arts are an alternative to university education of adults in Canada and the USA. Specifics of programs in American and Canadian colleges is analyzed. Colleges and institutes introduce programs aimed at solving social problems, taking into account labor market demands. They offer training programs for development of applied skills in business, art, technology, agriculture, social and educational fields, medicine. A special place in non-formal education for professional development is given to education for the labor market, which is aimed at obtaining specific professional competencies that are necessary at labor market. Adults are involved in professional programs, trainings, courses, seminars, internships.

scholarly journals An International Perspective on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Adult Education and Training

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 147-147
Author(s):  
Oksana Dikhtyar ◽  
Abigail Helsinger ◽  
Phyllis Cummins ◽  
Nytasia Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Adult Education ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
And Training

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression and the current recession has been more detrimental to older workers compared to other age groups. Not only has it forced more older workers out of their jobs, but it has also made it much harder for jobless older workers to find a new job. Furthermore, due to increased automation and digitalization in the workplace, older workers will likely need upskilling or reskilling to improve their employment prospects in the changed labor market. This situation brings the importance of offering training and continuous education programs that target older workers to the forefront of adult education policy and practice. This qualitative study examines measures taken in response to COVID-19 in adult education and training (AET) in seven countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and the United States. The findings are based on key informant interviews with international policy experts and scholars in the field of AET in addition to information gathered from written materials (e.g., government and organizational reports). To expedite their economic recovery and improve labor market outcomes for their workers, some countries have increased government funding for vocational and continuing education or offered financial support for post-secondary students while others have provided funds to employers to offer training and retraining for their employees. Some of these measures have the potential to expand adult educational opportunities in the post-pandemic world. Implications for policy and practiced are discussed.

Masters of Craft

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Ocejo
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Young Men ◽  
New Economy ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Manual Labor ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Postindustrial City ◽  
New Form ◽  
Cultural Repertoires

In today's new economy—in which “good” jobs are typically knowledge or technology based—many well-educated and culturally savvy young men are instead choosing to pursue traditionally low-status manual-labor occupations as careers. This book looks at the renaissance of four such trades: bartending, distilling, barbering, and butchering. The book takes readers into the lives and workplaces of these people to examine how they are transforming these once-undesirable jobs into “cool” and highly specialized upscale occupational niches—and in the process complicating our notions about upward and downward mobility through work. It shows how they find meaning in these jobs by enacting a set of “cultural repertoires,” which include technical skills based on a renewed sense of craft and craftsmanship and an ability to understand and communicate that knowledge to others, resulting in a new form of elite taste-making. The book describes the paths people take to these jobs, how they learn their chosen trades, how they imbue their work practices with craftsmanship, and how they teach a sense of taste to their consumers. The book provides new insights into the stratification of taste, gentrification, and the evolving labor market in today's postindustrial city.

Time’s Up! Shorter Hours, Public Policy, and Time Flexibility as an Antidote to Youth Unemployment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Eva Maich ◽  
Jamie K. McCallum ◽  
Ari Grant-Sasson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Employment Relationships ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Hours Of Work ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Work Scheduling

This chapter explores the relationship between hours of work and unemployment. When it comes to time spent working in the United States at present, two problems immediately come to light. First, an asymmetrical distribution of working time persists, with some people overworked and others underemployed. Second, hours are increasingly unstable; precarious on-call work scheduling and gig economy–style employment relationships are the canaries in the coal mine of a labor market that produces fewer and fewer stable jobs. It is possible that some kind of shorter hours movement, especially one that places an emphasis on young workers, has the potential to address these problems. Some policies and processes are already in place to transition into a shorter hours economy right now even if those possibilities are mediated by an anti-worker political administration.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document