Landing a Job: Moving from College to Employment in the New Economy

Why do some college seniors make smooth transitions into the labor market while others flounder? While the quantitative literature shows differences in outcomes across class, race, and gender groups, we know little about the processes that produce these differences. Sociologist Judith Levine will conduct a longitudinal qualitative study to examine how students find jobs (or graduate programs) after college. She will investigate differences by class, race, and gender in students’ career aspirations and access to economic, cultural, and social capital. She will conduct in-depth interviews with 84 students at a public university in their senior year and the year after graduation and observations with a sub-sample.