THE EFFECTS OF CREDENTIALS BY FIELDS OF STUDY

Table 5 presents the returns to certificates, Associate degrees, and baccalaureate degrees for 1987 and 1990 only, by field of study.[24] This table includes the numbers of each credential in the sample, since certain credentials are sufficiently uncommon that small sample sizes preclude an accurate estimate of their effects.

However, despite problems with small samples, some clear patterns emerge. The modest average return to vocational certificates for men in 1987 of about 15% (in Table 3) may be due to the effects of engineering, computer, and health-related certificates, though small sample sizes preclude much certainty about this result. The insignificant coefficient for 1990 appears to be an average of higher returns for business and engineering/computer- related jobs balanced by lower and possibly negative returns in other fields. For women, health-related certificates (and business and vocational/technical fields in 1990) have significant returns, but other fields do not, including the relatively common fields of business and vocational/technical.

Table 5
Effects of Postsecondary Credentials, By Field of Study
1987 and 1990

The effects of Associate degrees are somewhat clearer because sample sizes are larger. For men, the returns to Associate degrees are highest in engineering and computer fields. Public service[25] and vocational/technical fields have significant returns in 1987, but not in 1990, while business is significant in 1990, but not in 1987.[26] For women, business and health-related occupations have positive returns, while others do not. Indeed, in vocational/technical fields (which may include the low-paid cosmetology area) and in education (which is largely child care) the coefficients are negative if insignificant. Evidently, because of the substantial gender segregation in occupations at this level of the labor market and in the corresponding vocational programs, the results are substantially different for men and women except in business. This finding also suggests that efforts to move women into nontraditional occupations need to not only motivate women to enroll in the appropriate educational programs, but also must change the employment patterns that deny women returns equivalent to those of men.

For Associate degrees in academic subjects, the coefficients are generally insignificant or small, except for women in the "other" category[27] in 1987; in 1990, math for men and humanities and social science for women are significant. This finding suggests that the academic Associate degree, which was historically the path for transferring to four-year colleges,[28] is not necessarily a good investment for those who fail to transfer.

Finally, the results for baccalaureate degrees replicate familiar results: the highest returns come in business, engineering/computer, health, and math/science fields; returns are lower in social sciences (at least for men) and the humanities, and lower still in education. The category of "other vocational" includes such fields as journalism, communications, and library science, and proves significant for men but not for women. In general, however, these results are more consistent between men and women than are the results for Associate degrees--perhaps a reflection that patterns of gender segregation are more powerful in sub-baccalaureate occupations than they are in occupations in which a baccalaureate degree is common.[29]

These results confirm earlier findings based on NLS72 data. Evidently, at the sub-baccalaureate level it matters a great deal what field of study an individual enters. Some programs prepare their students for such poorly paid occupations that there is no real advantage to attending a community college or technical institute; others--particularly in technical fields and business for men and in business and health for women--have more consistent and substantial returns. Some relatively common fields of study at the sub-baccalaureate level--education (or child care) for women; certain trades and crafts at the certificate level--provide very little, if any, increase in earnings over those of high school graduates. Finally, for those who fail to transfer to four-year colleges, the returns to academic Associate degrees are often low or uncertain.

What remains unclear is whether students have been educated about these patterns, so that they can make well-informed choices among the occupational alternatives. Of course, earnings are only one factor influencing occupational choice: desirable working conditions influence these decisions, particularly in some low-paid fields such as child care and horticulture, and some students are precluded from well-paid technical fields by their lack of appropriate math and science skills. Still, given numerous complaints about the lack of guidance and counseling in both high schools and community colleges,[30] it seems likely that many students are making poorly informed choices and entering programs in which the economic returns are insubstantial.

[24] The results for 1984 are substantially identical to those of 1987.

[25] In some regions of the country, public service includes fire fighters and police who are prepared through community college programs. Some legal aides and social service workers may be included in this category.

[26] The vocational/technical fields include the trades and construction crafts, which may explain why the coefficient is positive and significant for men in 1987, but not for women.

[27] In community colleges, it is usually possible to major in "liberal studies" or "general studies" programs which typically include a series of academic prerequisites for transferring to four-year colleges. I suspect most of the "other" category includes Associate degrees in liberal studies.

[28] However, there is evidence that the academic Associate degree has been declining in importance as a route to transfer and that as many students from vocational subjects now transfer as do those from the academic subjects (see Grubb, 1991).

[29] For evidence that gender segregation has been declining more in higher-level occupations than in middle- and lower-level jobs, see Blau and Ferber (1992).

[30] There is a general consensus that career-oriented counseling has all but vanished from most high schools. While there appear to be more resources in counseling and guidance in community colleges, they still appear to be inadequate relative to the need. Some evidence comes from a series of interviews in community colleges in four local labor markets, reported in Grubb et al. (1992); other evidence comes from a series of interviews with about forty community college students in California, who were overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the guidance and counseling resources available.