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This paper presents a study that analyzed the relationship between Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) and mid-career median pay and was conducted at a state university. The analysis was based on 49 courses prefixes from 5 different colleges/schools within the university. The SET data was collected from a wide range of courses, and the analysis revealed a negative correlation between SET and earning, indicating that courses with lower ratings for instruction are associated with higher mid-career median pay. A further analysis of the relationship found the quantitative character of the discipline as a confounding variable. The relation became clear: lower SET scores are correlated with quantitative majors, while quantitative majors are correlated with higher salaries. These findings have implications for how universities and colleges evaluate and reward instructors, as well as how students perceive and value their educational experiences.

Academic motivation enables students to face challenges in their studies and is important for student performance. Academic self-concept refers to students' perceptions of their competencies and ability to learn. The goal of the study was to evaluate academic motivation and self-concept of undergraduate optometry students. We used a mixed methods research design involving a self-administered questionnaire and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Saturated sampling was used to recruit participants. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic content analysis. The sample consisted of 166 participants aged between 18 and 24 years with more females (n = 121) and fourth year students (n = 64). The mean score for extrinsic motivation (4.91 ± 1.42) was larger than the mean scores for intrinsic motivation (4.24 ± 1.48) and amotivation (1.58 ± 1.02). There was no difference in the mean scores for motivation between the different levels of study (p = 0.122) or gender groups (p = 0.100). The mean scores for academic confidence and academic effort were 4.45 ± 0.38 and 4.51 ± 0.69, respectively. The main factors that influenced student motivation were online learning, prospect of graduation, financial independence and support systems. Optometry students have positive perceptions of their academic capabilities and competence, and are motivated to engage in their studies. Students' motivation was influenced by external factors such as higher salaries, prestigious jobs, affluent lifestyle and recognition. Optometry lecturers and curriculum developers should consider academic motivation and self-concept when interacting with students for optimal student well-being. Contribution: This article focusses on academic motivation and self-concept of undergraduate students that may be of interest because of the ongoing corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the changes students have experienced for teaching and learning activities. Students must remain motivated to achieve their academic goals. Thus, this study can assist students to better understand how motivation affects their learning and what factors affect their motivation. Information from the study can also inform parents, lecturers and administrators on how to optimally support student growth and development as well as create learning environments better suited to the needs of students.

The landscape of medical specialty choice is dynamic, undergoing significant changes as students' progress through undergraduate and graduate medical training. These shifts are influenced by various factors, with financial considerations becoming increasingly relevant among medical students' preferences. This study conducts a retrospective analysis of specialty match rates and physician compensation, suggesting a potential trend where primary care fields, though fundamental to healthcare, appear less competitive and often associated with less financial reward compared to other specialties. The existence of this disparity is not without consequences. It contributes significantly to the ongoing and anticipated primary care physician shortages. This situation requires a comprehensive approach to tackle the complex factors influencing medical students' career choices. Understanding these dynamics is critical for healthcare policy and planning. This paper investigates how financial considerations sway medical students' specialty choices, emphasizing the economic disparities between primary care and other specialties.

This study examines the correlation between job descriptions and salaries at Immaculate Conception College of Balayan Inc. (ICCBI), a private Catholic institution devoted to faith-based education. Using qualitative research, a single-case study was conducted with ten (10) participants selected through purposive sampling based on specific criteria. Through face-to-face interviews, data was collected and analyzed using a narrative approach. Thus, it was found out that job descriptions at ICCBI are established through methods like job analysis, role and responsibility approaches, qualifications, and the school manual-based method. Salary determination involves factors such as tenure, educational attainment, performance, teaching loads, experience, and collegial care. Key factors influencing job descriptions include salary differentiation, aligned job descriptions, career development opportunities, and increased duties and responsibilities. Variations in the salary structure are affected by teaching loads, department designations, and educational qualifications. The findings indicate that job descriptions impact employee salaries at the institution, and future research is encouraged to explore identified factors for insights into developing more efficient roles and contributing to organizational effectiveness. With this, the study proposed a strategic plan for future use and implementation.

Graduate education is among the fastest growing segments of the U.S. higher educational system. This paper estimates the returns to Master's degrees and examines heterogeneity in the returns by field area, student demographics and initial labor market conditions. We use rich administrative data from Ohio and an individual fixed effects model that compares students' earnings trajectories before and after earning a Master's degree. Findings show that obtaining a Master's degree increased quarterly earnings by about 14% on average, but the returns vary largely across graduate fields. We also find gender and racial disparities in the returns, with higher average returns for women than for men, and for White than for Black graduates. In addition, by comparing returns among students who graduated before and under the Great Recession, we show that economic downturns appear to reduce but not eliminate the positive returns to Master's degrees. There are important variations in the returns to Master's degrees during the recession across field area and race/ethnicity.

This original study presents findings from a study of members of the first cohort of legal degree apprentices. Introduced in the UK in 2016, legal degree apprenticeships (LAs) remove uncertainty towards legal qualification in an otherwise competitive graduate recruitment environment and could help to increase social mobility into the professions. We examine the impact of the LA pathway on the development of wellbeing and capabilities of apprentices and traditional law students through the following research questions: does it enhance wellbeing when instead of loans, debt and insecurity, aspiring lawyers have a salary, no debt and secure job prospects through an apprenticeship pathway to qualification; and does using a capability framework offer a meaningful lens for understanding the experiences on different pathways? The analysis adopts a capabilities approach, intersected with an inequalities lens, to explore interviews with 23 aspiring solicitors, from different social backgrounds and at different stages of progression on the traditional university and LA pathways in England. The interviews explored access to and experiences of both pathways, particularly how participants were able to develop and convert their social and cultural resources into key capabilities. This provided a meaningful way to make sense of participants' experiences. Capabilities were enhanced for LA students by removing stress and uncertainty around employment. This wellbeing gain was corroded for some by long commutes into work--often centred in London. Future quantitative research could establish whether, on balance, the majority of LA students experience an overall wellbeing gain. The capability framework usefully showed how across the LA and university pathways, all participants valued agency and developing all capabilities. Social capital was a key resource for creating opportunity and a desired capability that participants sought to develop.

Context: Low salary is a frequently cited reason for attrition from the athletic training profession. Researchers have determined that athletic trainers (ATs) entering the first hiring process, usually newly credentialed graduates of professional athletic training programs (ATPs), are the least likely to negotiate, resulting in lowered earning potential across their careers. It is necessary to instruct athletic training students on the importance of salary negotiation before the completion of their professional preparation. Objective: Describe a lecture-based approach to include salary negotiation content into ATPs. Background: Employing constructivist learning theory, didactic lecture content with applicable strategies for salary negotiation is sufficient for students to understand which strategies can be used to negotiate for a higher salary during the hiring process. Description: Before the didactic experience, second-year graduate ATP students self-assessed their knowledge of, familiarity with, and comfort in negotiating during the hiring process. A single 3-hour lecture on negotiation was provided to students that included reasons to negotiate, financial ramifications of not negotiating, strategies for determining appropriate salaries, example language to use, and a discussion of timing to initiate negotiations. Students reassessed their knowledge, familiarity, and comfort within 1 week of receiving the didactic content. Six months after ATP completion, students reported whether they negotiated during their first hiring process. Educational Advantages: Although not required for professional ATPs, the inclusion of content specific to salary negotiation in the hiring process increases future ATs' understanding of negotiation processes and their comfort level in initiating negotiations earlier in their career. Conclusion: Students' understanding of negotiation during the hiring process and comfort with attempting negotiation increased following the lecture-based technique. If ATs can achieve higher earnings earlier in their career, they can increase their lifetime earning potential, and they may find the profession to be more financially sustainable, thus decreasing professional attrition.

The steady increase of chief executives' compensation in both public and private universities has long been at the centre of public debate and has received a lot of criticism in the UK. As higher education is considered as an industry, a pay for performance relationship is expected. This paper differs by demonstrating that UK Vice Chancellors consider incentives other than remuneration in their career progression. By constructing a comprehensive dataset of UK Vice Chancellors covering academic years 2012/2013 to 2016/2017, we demonstrate that UK university chief executives, especially if young, are willing to accept lower salaries when they interpret their role as a springboard for visible high-profile positions in the public arena.

In the discipline of technical/professional writing and communication, one of the strongest recruiting tools we use is the potential earning power students will have once they obtain a degree and secure a job in the industry. This article is the result of two professors learning that one of their most advanced and dedicated students accepted, in her first job out of graduate school, a salary we thought was thousands below her earning potential. Our conversations around this student's situation led us to survey other alumni from our programs. What we have learned is that students often do not know what salaries they should expect, nor do they feel comfortable negotiating a salary offer. In addition, graduates' location (urban vs. rural) and level of education (BA or BS degree vs. MA) impact their earning potential.

This study investigates the effects of studying abroad through the Erasmus Programme (EP), a European Union programme launched primarily to foster international mobility and cultural exchange of University students, on the school-to-work transition of university graduates. Since a satisfactory transition does not only mean finding a job, but also concerns the wage level and the quality of work, such as stability, working hours and risk of overeducation, we consider all these aspects in order to draw a comprehensive picture of the effect of the EP. We exploit a composite dataset, built on administrative and survey data, covering all graduates from the largest Italian university from 2011 to 2015, and replicate the analysis on a national sample of graduates to verify whether the results can be extended nationwide. Estimates are provided, based on a PSM procedure, of the effects of the EP on the probability of employment, including abroad, on the quality of jobs and on wage levels at different points in time after graduation. We also investigate whether less advantaged students benefit from the Erasmus experience, and provide insights about the role of the foreign languages skills. The results show that the participation in the EP improves employment prospects at least in the short term, as well as the quality of job, and has a positive long term effect on the participants' ability to find a job abroad. The wages of participants are persistently higher than those of non-participants. Less advantaged groups also benefit from the Erasmus experience.

Micro-credentials have received renewed attention by universities as a potential pathway to highdemand careers. The goals of this study were to understand the prevalence of micro-credentials offered by universities, the characteristics of universities offering micro-credentials generally and information systems (IS) micro-credentials specifically, and the content of IS micro-credentials. To this end, this study found that only very few universities are currently offering micro-credentials. Specifically, of all 1,860 universities listed on US News & World Report, only 127 (6.8%) offer micro-credentials on Credly, which is one of the largest digital credentialing platforms. However, once universities offer microcredentials, they do so prolifically. In fact, the 127 universities offer a total of 2,308 micro-credentials, with 114 (89.9%) universities offering more than one micro-credential for an average of 53 microcredentials offered per university. Moreover, this study found that universities offering micro-credentials or IS micro-credentials are more likely to be tier 1, public universities located in a city, urban, or suburban setting with a higher starting salary of graduates. Lastly, of the 2,308 micro-credentials offered by universities, only 195 (8.4%) are IS micro-credentials addressing competency realms defined in the IS2020 curriculum. The top IS2020 competency realms are technology, data, and development. The most frequently associated skills among IS micro-credentials are cybersecurity, Excel, AI/ML, SQL and HTML, CSS, JS. Future research is needed to understand the longitudinal development of microcredential offerings among universities (including international universities), on various digital credentialing platforms, possibly leveraging automatic data collection and analysis methods.

Lifelong education has proven to be a significant challenge in the policy arena. The combination of formal education and labor-centered institutions has pressed the development of different mechanisms to understand the role of human capital accumulation in socioeconomic mobility and organizational performance. While the narratives of lifelong education have primed labor and educational studies across developed economies, in the case of developing economies, those logics appear contested by development economics conditions. In this paper, I use the context of the expansion of the graduate educational market and its policy reforms to analyze how a developing economy copes with a change in the availability of a highly educated workforce. Using panel and pseudo-panel data, I examine the evolution of educational returns for the graduate workforce in Chile between 1990 and 2018, considering the differences between industries and public and private sectors. The results point out that there are no public-private differences and high heterogeneity across economic sectors. The policy- and individual-level consequences are discussed.

Administrative assistants within the higher education system are a vital part of universities, including supporting students, faculty, and administrators. Although administrative assistants are essential to a college or university, they often lack recognition and salary support for their contributions. This applied qualitative study seeks to uncover some of the most unseen staff in higher education. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of women administrative assistants within higher education in the United States. The data of this study reveal three findings: (1) administrative assistants encounter challenges in losing their capacity to speak up; (2) receive low pay despite the increasing responsibilities placed upon them; and (3) maneuver complicated demands from faculty members. To improve how administrative assistants are supported and recognized, recommendations are provided for higher education institution leadership.

Background: Engineering curricula are built around faculty and accreditors' perceptions of what knowledge, skills, and abilities graduates will need in engineering careers. However, the people making these decisions may not be fully aware of what industry employers require for engineering graduates. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study is to determine how industry employer-sought professional and technical skills vary among engineering disciplines and levels of education. Design/Method: Using a large sample (n = 26,103) of mined job advertisements, we use the O*NET skills database to determine the frequencies of different professional and technical skills for biomedical, civil, chemical, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineers with bachelor's, master's, and PhD degrees. Results: The most frequently sought professional skill is problem-solving; the most frequently sought technical skills across disciplines are Microsoft Office software and computer-aided design software. Although not the most frequently requested skills, job advertisements including the Python and MATLAB programming languages paid significantly higher salaries than those without. Conclusions: The findings of this study have important implications for engineering program leaders and curriculum designers choosing which skills to teach students so that they are best prepared to get and excel in engineering jobs. The results also show which skills students can prioritize investing their time in so that they receive the largest financial return on their investment.

According to the Institute for Women's Policy, women in the United States working in the state of Louisiana earn sixty-nine cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. This is a substantial discrepancy and has been used as a call for action. However, what is really behind this variance in pay between women and men? For a large part, it is the types of careers that men and women choose to enter. A more valid comparison between men's and women's pay is to look at pay differences within the same chosen career path. This study looks at faculty pay at a regional university to ascertain whether there is evidence of a difference in pay between women and men in academia. This paper's results show that once the area of specialty, rank, and years of experience are considered, male faculty actually, on average, earn less than their female counterparts.

One of the most impacted areas in higher education is the field of student affairs (Lynch, 2017). While job satisfaction is problematic in higher education; only 1% of professionals are "extremely satisfied" with their job, giving the field a much lower overall satisfaction level than many other occupations (Kinman & Wray, 2014). Additionally, women are experiencing job dissatisfaction at the highest rates (Beeny et al., 2005) and student affairs is a field primarily occupied by women (MacAlpine, 2022). Research shows one of the more dramatic results of job satisfaction is when dissatisfaction leads to burnout (Kahill, 2007). Women in student affairs are rapidly leaving the field due to job dissatisfaction (Bender, 2009). The authors share findings from a phenomenological qualitative research study designed to assess job satisfaction of women student affairs professionals in entry, mid, and senior level higher education positions relating to job satisfaction and leadership, motivation, productivity, and burnout. The overarching research question is, "What are the perceptions of women student affairs professionals in Louisiana public higher education institutions regarding job satisfaction in relation to leadership, motivation, productivity, and burnout?" Data analyses resulted in identification of six major findings relating to higher sense of value, high levels of trust, senior-level satisfaction, expectations not aligned with compensation, student impact as a high motivator, and impact of crises on burnout among women student affairs professionals in Louisiana higher education institutions. The finding implications are shared from theory, practice, and future research perspectives, as well as implications for leadership and practice. [This Paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Louisiana Education Research Association Conference (LERA), Lafayette, LA, Mar 9-10, 2023).]

A cross-sectional study was conducted at a 3-year pharmacy program in a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Students were asked about their familiarity with the PharmD-PA dual degree and its associated benefits and limitations. Students' perceptions of the PharmD-PA dual degree on their career outlook, quality of life, salary, and its ramifications on the healthcare sector were assessed. Descriptive and chi-square analysis were conducted. Seventy-two students completed the survey from all 3 years of pharmacy school, and only 35 students (48.6%) were familiar with the PharmD-PA dual degree program. Students noted the benefits of pursuing the PharmD-PA dual degree to be acquiring prescriptive authority (44.4%), improved clinical knowledge (29.2%), and better career opportunities (18.0%). The main limitations included the additional time in school (40.3%), financial barriers of the program (26.4%), and increased school workload (16.7%). Most students believed that the PharmD-PA dual degree had positive effects on their job prospects, salary, career satisfaction, and allowed for overall improvements in patient care. Overall, pharmacy students had positive perceptions of the PharmD-PA dual degree program. Schools of Pharmacy should look into the development of PharmD-PA dual degree programs as a unique marketing opportunity for admissions and as a nontraditional method of career advancement.

Results from two studies provided strong evidence for the validity of the HiSET® tests, thereby demonstrating that HiSET is a well-developed battery of tests with passing and college and career readiness (CCR) standards that, when met, provide a pathway to postsecondary education, better employment opportunities and wages, and a better quality of life to those who are unable to experience a traditional high school education. Positive relationships exist between HiSET scores and both high school grades and ACT scores, including high levels of agreement between HiSET CCR indicators and ACT CCR indicators. Therefore, evidence supports the claim that HiSET scores are measures of high school equivalency, preparedness for middle skills jobs, and college readiness. Furthermore, there is evidence that passing the HiSET provides value to stakeholders. Passing the HiSET battery is associated with gaining academic and personal skills, college enrollment, employment gains (e.g., obtaining employment, obtaining more full-time employment, wage increases, and improvement in a job or position), and quality-of-life improvements.

The present study aimed to compare PhD holders' current working conditions, satisfaction, and changes in their job four years after graduation across three job sectors, namely universities, research institutes and industry. We analysed the responses to the survey on PhD graduates' employability of the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency, AQU Catalunya. Participants were 1,798 PhD holders from all disciplines who graduated between 2014 and 2016. Our findings show that PhD holders working outside academia had better working conditions in terms of the type of contract, working hours and salary than those at universities and research institutes. PhD holders working outside academia experienced fewer changes after the PhD and were less satisfied with the connection between their job and the PhD, but no differences were found among sectors in the satisfaction with job content and overall job satisfaction. Results show a clear mismatch between the education level required for the job and the level of responsibilities, not only for PhD holders working beyond academia but also, to a lesser extent, for those working at universities and research institutes. This study contributes to the understanding of academic and non-academic trajectories and points out several gaps and lines for future research and doctoral education.

This study examines the impact of educational attainment on employment and earnings in Nepal. Using the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017-2018 cycle, we employ an extended earnings function derived from the foundational Mincer equation to estimate returns to education. The results underscore the overall positive impact of education (1.76, 3.73, 7.68 and 11.00% increase in earnings by primary, secondary, bachelor's and master's degrees, respectively), which is lower than the average observed in other low- and middle- income countries, except in higher education. The results also indicate persisting disparities for females and disadvantaged groups. The study emphasizes the need for strategic interventions, improved educational infrastructure and inclusive policies to foster equitable opportunities.

The benefits of growth in university enrolments are contingent on the articulation of university expansion with changes in other areas, particularly the economy. The costs of a mismatch are felt at the societal level, but especially by individual graduates. This article describes problems faced by professionals in one country that has experienced very rapid expansion of higher education in a highly privatised market economy. While not uniformly generalisable to other countries, the results are illustrative of what can occur. The study is based on subjective information provided by Chilean university graduates who have recently sought employment. The graduates' narratives can be aligned along three major dimensions of dissatisfaction: labour force entry; earnings; and working conditions. The themes are linked and combine to describe a difficult transition from university to work in a context of low salaries and unstable and uncertain employment. Among factors contributing to unfulfilment of aspirations are the graduates' social capital and socioeconomic status, the geographic location of the job, the university from which they graduated, and activities while a student. Unsynchronised expansion of different social institutions can reduce social equity and cohesion.

Purpose: The job satisfaction of university graduates can serve as an indicator of success in their professional development. At the same time, it can be a measure of higher education systems' effectiveness. The purpose is to assess the relationship of university graduates' socio-demographic characteristics, aspects of their degree program, experiences in the labor market and current working conditions and their job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from a survey conducted at 11 Chilean universities with 534 graduates. An ordinal logistic regression model was fit to calculate job satisfaction probabilities for different graduate profiles. Findings: The results show that sex, field of study, gross salary and horizontal match are related to graduates' job satisfaction. Men and graduates in education and humanities are more likely to report being satisfied with their current job. Those graduates receiving higher salaries and those who are horizontally well-matched report higher levels of job satisfaction. Originality/value: This study contributes to expanding knowledge about the job satisfaction of university graduates. Specifically, based on the results obtained, it introduces the idea of aspiration fulfillment as a possible determinant of job satisfaction in different fields of study. This can serve as a starting point for research that delves into differentiated expectations for graduates from different disciplines.

Women's academic careers are shorter, slower, and progress less than those of men. We investigated gender differences in thinking about leaving an academic career across career stages. Our analysis of data from an online survey of academics in the Czech Republic (1657 individuals) showed that in men, the trajectory of such considerations gradually decreases after obtaining a Ph.D. (except for 6-10 years post-Ph.D.), while in women it starts to drop significantly only after earning associate professorship and even then the decrease is less steep than for men. In both men and women, differences in thoughts of leaving across career stages were explained mostly by biological age and salary but in women, leadership position was also an important factor. Surprisingly, neither in men nor in women were differences in thinking about leaving explained by job satisfaction. Our findings imply that for women, achievement of a leadership position is more important with respect to thoughts of leaving than for men and that career age is for women less important than academic rank. We suggest that gender differences in trajectories of thinking about leaving may be linked to different perceptions of career prospects, especially at the career stage of 11 + years post-Ph.D.

In the context of threats to their financial sustainability, this paper uses Resource Dependency Theory to explore the challenges being faced by a sample of 10 small new public universities in England. It discusses the responses being taken and prospects for the future in this segment of the sector. It concludes that some of the most important elements of income and expenditure are also areas where institutions have amongst the lowest levels of autonomy, including tuition fees, staff salaries and pension costs. It suggests that institutions are proactively seeking ways to both adapt their strategy and influence the environment in which they operate, including the introduction of new organisational forms, models for employing staff, the diversification into new programmes and markets, and greater use of domestic and international partnerships.