More than just lower wages: intrinsic job quality for college graduates with disabilities. Issue 5 (17th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henly, Megan; Brucker, Debra L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of education and work. Volume 33:Issue 5/6(2020)
• Page Start: 410
• Page End: 424
• Publication Date: 2020-08-17
• Subjects: Disability -- job quality -- intrinsic quality of work -- disability wage gap; Career education -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; Préparation à une carrière -- Périodiques; Orientation professionnelle -- Périodiques; Marché du travail, Effets de l'éducation sur le -- Périodiques; Transition école-travail -- Périodiques; Insertion professionnelle -- Périodiques; 331.702
• DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2020.1842865
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1363-9080

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Americans with a disability are substantially less likely to be employed than those without a disability. Among those with a disability who are employed, additional layers of inequality have been established, including wage differences and access to benefits. Education is generally viewed as a pathway to professional work with good wages, benefits, and work conditions. In this paper, we utilise data from the 2017 National Survey of College Graduates, a nationally-representative sample of college graduates in the United States, to examine job quality between workers with and without a disability (n = 64, 998 between ages 20–64). In addition to economic characteristics where we observe a median wage gap of $6, 400 USD by disability status among full-time workers, this paper examines intrinsic qualities of work: autonomy, powerfulness, self-fulfilment, and meaningfulness of work. While college graduates generally rank high on intrinsic work quality (75% or more possess each of these qualities regardless of disability), on three of these four measures, full-time workers with a college degree and a disability scored significantly lower than their counterparts with no disability. We also consider individual-level preferences for job attributes and, after controlling for demographic characteristics, found that differences in intrinsic job quality by disability status remain.