[NLA] Wages for Men and Women

[Bickerton, Robert P]

Tom, et al,

I agree that these are issues we need to engage quite critically which
includes looking at all the research and not just the data and analyses that
support a particular policy or point of view.  Further, I couldn't agree
more that there are many things at work besides literacy in "determining
wages in the workplaces of America" -- not the least of which are public
policies and private practices that discriminate and that favor the
accumulation of capital and wealth over economic justice -- at virtually any
price.  

I do want to add one caution of my own to your own analysis.  I have not yet
read the piece by Carnevale and Desrochers (2001) that you cite as evidence
for a literacy surplus.  My caution is that an important finding from NALS
is that we cannot trust "last grade (or credential) completed" as definitive
evidence of literacy functioning level and that some researchers have
concluded from NALS that functioning level is a better predictor of wages
than last grade/credential (my recollection is Andy Summ, Northeastern
University's Center for Labor Market Studies has made this case).  Hence,
unless Carnevale and Desrochers have controlled in some manner for actual
functioning level, I'm not convinced the 83% earnings correlation among
those with associate vs. bachelor degrees couldn't largely be attributed to
this factor.  

Please keep these studies and your analyses of them coming -- it's always
great to "hear" from you.
take care,
bob bickerton, MA director of adult education

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Sticht [mailto:tsticht at aznet.net]
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 10:47 AM
To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
Cc: tsticht at aznet.net
Subject: [NLA] Wages for Men and Women


Research Note 9/28/01

Tom Sticht

Wages For Men and Women: New Evidence For a Growing Literacy Surplus

In a new report, Carnevale and Desrochers (2001) present new analyses
that suggest that there is a growing surplus of literacy skills in the
workforce of the United States. In one analysis, they present data
showing that  from 1973 to 1998 the percentage of prime-age workers
(both male and female) with some college/AA degree more than doubled, 
from 12 percent to 27 percent.  But from 1979 to 1998 earnings (in
constant 1996 dollars) of prime-age male workers (30-59 years old)
declined for those who failed to finish high school, those with a high
school diploma, AND those with some college or an AA degree. For men
with a bachelor's degree or graduate degree, earnings rose from 1979 to
1998. 

In this case, as the percentage of men with some college or an AA degree
increased, their wages decreased. But the same was not true for women.
Across all education categories, women's wages grew from 1979 to 1998.
However, they started from low baselines and ended up at low levels of
wages. On average, women with bachelor's degrees in 1998 earned only
about as much as men with high school diplomas. This suggests that women
may be in lower paying jobs though they may possess education and
literacy skills that far exceed the demands for education and skills in
the jobs that they hold. That is, they may possess a literacy surplus. 

In analyses of data from the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1992, the
authors show data indicating that in 1998 dollars and for workers aged
16-64, women with high school diplomas and the highest literacy skills,
NALS levels 4/5, earned less than men with high school diplomas but the
lowest literacy skills, NALS level 1. Women with a bachelor's degree and
NALS level 3 literacy earned about the same as men with NALS level 3
literacy skills with just a high school diploma. 

Carnevale and Desrochers (2001) also present data showing that though
the more education one has the better the average income, 83 percent of
workers with associate degrees have earnings that fall within the same
distributions as workers with bachelor's degrees. This suggests that
many workers with bachelor's degrees possess literacy skills for which
they are not being compensated in wages. That is, they may possess a
surplus of literacy. 

Why do women with high school diplomas and with the highest literacy
skills on the NALS earn less on average than men with high school
diplomas but the lowest scores on the NALS?  Is it because women are
working in jobs that just pay less regardless of one's education and
skill levels? If so, why are women working in these low paying jobs? Why
aren't men working in these jobs to the same extent as women? 

These data lead to questions as to the likely outcomes of educating more
and more people to higher and higher levels of education and literacy.
Is it possible that as more and more people acquire higher education
credentials and higher literacy skills wages will fall because employers
have a larger pool of better qualified workers from which to recruit? 
Is that what happened from 1979 to 1998 as the percentages of men with
some college or AA degrees increased, and wages for these men decreased
(in constant 1996 dollars)? 

It seems clear from data in this report and from earlier work that
something other than literacy skills and education credentials is at
work in determining wages in the workplaces of America. This would seem
to demand a closer scrutiny as adult education and literacy development
policies are wed more and more closely to workforce investment policies. 

References

Carnevale, A. & Desrochers, D. (2001). Help wanted...credentials required:
community colleges in the knowledge economy. Princeton, NJ: Educational
Testing Service. 

See papers at www.nald.ca under full text documents searched by Sticht 
or Krahn for earlier work on the concept of the literacy surplus.
_______________________________________________
NLA mailing list: NLA at lists.literacytent.org
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
http://literacytent.org