Precarious Prospects Questions:
1. What were the demographic characteristics of students from low-income households?
2. What post-secondary education degrees did students from low-income households attain and in what degree programs?
3. How did students' career earnings vary by the income level of the households they grew up in?
Promising Pathways Questions:
1. Which education and industry pathways led a high proportion of students from low-earning families to work in a good job?
2. How did these pathways vary by race/ethnicity and gender?
Does college still lead to better economic outcomes? What are the education and industry pathways that lead to good jobs?
The UChicago Consortium and the Illinois Workforce & Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) to examine the education and earnings outcomes of Illinois high school seniors from the classes of 2008 to 2012 who met study parameters. This research used a unique data set, the Illinois High School 2 Career project, which tracks students from high school graduation through post-secondary education/training (if any) and into the workforce. It examines the pathways taken by students from different economic backgrounds after high school and how those pathways are related to their later economic outcomes.
These findings shed light on how the state could support all students, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, in accessing stable and well-paying jobs.
Key Findings from Precarious Prospects
- Students who earned higher educational degrees went on to earn more, on average. This was true for students of all economic backgrounds.
- Specific degree program and industry mattered—some were higher-earning than others for all student groups.
- Students from lower-income families were less likely to attain higher degrees or work in higher-earning industries.
- Even with the same educational degree, degree program or industry of employment, students from lower-income families earned less than those from higher-income families, on average.
Key Findings from Promising Pathways
- Higher education is the most promising pathway to a good job. Averaged across all industries and programs of study, earning a bachelor’s degree or above was a promising pathway for students of all racial/ethnic and gender groups.
- Pathways without a bachelor’s degree can lead to good jobs. Some industries and majors provided students from low-income families with good jobs at high average rates without a bachelor’s degree.
- However, sub-baccalaureate pathways mostly lead to good jobs for men. Many of the promising sub-BA pathways were less promising for the women who pursued them.
- Disparities remain in access to good jobs, even with similar degree, program of study, or industry, but higher education shrinks these gaps.
