Research
Embedded Files
Measuring the Occupational Content of College: A Multidimensional Framework for Labor Market Alignment
As workplace technologies evolve, college-educated workers increasingly rely on combinations of skills that are difficult to automate and, to date, challenging to measure. This paper uses text-as-data methods to score postsecondary learning environments according to their similarity to the six vocational dimensions of Holland’s theory of careers. I generate score "profiles" for college course and program descriptions, replicating the structure of existing six-dimensional O*NET measures for occupations (0-100 scale).
I use these novel measures as outcomes in a skills-based alignment analysis for parallel samples of postsecondary completions and workforce composition. I assess correspondence in the annual rates of change for each vocational dimension separately for five credential levels and find that overall cross-sample alignment is strongest for graduate awards and weakest for Bachelor’s degrees and Certificates; evidence of overproduction and undersupply relative to workforce trends is concentrated in the Realistic and Enterprising dimensions. I discuss the implications of these findings for supply-side education policy and curricular organization.
Additional Dissertation Studies
College Coursework Portfolios and Early Career Trajectories
I apply the validated RIASEC measurement model described above to real course descriptions linked with postsecondary transcripts and resume data. I construct individual coursework "portfolios" as a summative measure of undergraduate learning to examine how the depth and breadth of competencies students acquire influence early-career job choices and transitions.
Beyond Algebra II: The Impact of Four Years of High School Math on College and Major Choice
This paper uses causal inference methods to examine how a state-level change in Tennessee's high school graduation requirements, primarily targeting math proficiency, influenced college-going and field-of-study decisions. I develop an approach for aligning the rigor of high school math coursework with a continuous measure of college major “math intensity.”
Master's Thesis [Paper]
Award: Certificate of Excellence, Master’s Integrative Project (Teachers College, Columbia University)
The Who, Where, and When of Wages: Regional Returns to Social Skills
This paper examines how wage returns to interpersonal skills varied across U.S. regions over time. I find substantial geographic and gendered variation: coastal labor markets added socially intensive job content most rapidly, women entered these occupations earlier, and returns were strongest for men in the Northeast. My dissertation research builds on this foundation by developing a scheme to measure social and other labor-market-relevant skills as postsecondary learning outcomes.
Chapters and Reports
Higher Education Finance: Expenditures and Costs (with Kevin Stange) [Web Link]
This chapter in AEFP's "Live Handbook" surveys the empirical research on institutional resources, spending decisions, and revenue-generating strategies. We also conduct original analyses using annual finance and enrollment data from IPEDS. Our key findings:
Postsecondary students in the U.S. experience very different levels of resources depending on where they study.
State funding policies shape the resources available to public institutions and their revenue-generating strategies.
Institutional spending improves student outcomes.
Resource use varies across departments and programs within institutions.
Federal funding for financial aid and research influences spending decisions.
Efforts to substantially rein in spending have been unsuccessful because costs are an ingredient of educational quality.
Postsecondary Enrollments and Expenditures, 1978-2022
Aligning Short-term Credentials with Community College Degree Programs (with Richard Kazis) [Report Link]
Based on interviews with state workforce leaders, we describe state-level approaches and current challenges in creating and scaling high-value occupational certificates embedded in pathways to an associate or bachelor’s degree. This study is one of three in a CCRC volume on policy strategies for improving credential attainment among underserved adult populations.
The Implementation and Effects of Lesson Study in Community College Mathematics (with Sue Bickerstaff, Jacqueline Raphael, Michelle Hodara, and Sam Riggs) [Report Link]
"Lesson study" is an instructor-led professional development model grounded in routine observation and peer pedagogical feedback. This mixed-method report details the implementation of the lesson study model with developmental math instructors at three community colleges as well as the impact of participation on faculty beliefs and student learning.
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