Dissertation Research
Embedded Files
Measuring the Occupational Content of College: A Multidimensional Framework for Labor Market Alignment
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 based on similarity to the six vocational dimensions from Holland’s theory of career choice. I generate score "profiles" for major and course descriptions (0-100), replicating the six-dimensional structure of existing O*NET measures for occupations.
I apply these profile measures in a skills-based supply-and-demand analysis using parallel samples of postsecondary completions and workforce composition over two decades and examine time trends for each dimension across five credential levels. I assess correspondence in the annual rates of change by credential-dimension pair and find that overall 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 policy and curricular organization.
Additional Studies
College Coursework Portfolios and Early Career Trajectories
This paper applies 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 a novel approach for aligning the rigor of high school math coursework with a continuous measure of major-specific “math intensity.”
Chapters and Reports
Higher Education Finance: Expenditures and Costs (with Kevin Stange) [Link]
This chapter in AEFP's "Live Handbook" surveys the empirical literature on institutional spending and resource generation. We also conduct original analyses using annual finance and enrollment data from IPEDS. 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.
Aligning Short-term Credentials with Community College Degree Programs (with Richard Kazis) [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) [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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