Precarious Prospects: Education Pays, yet Socioeconomic Disparities Persist in Illinois Students' Later Earnings. Illinois High School to Career Series. Part One
Saved in:
| Title: | Precarious Prospects: Education Pays, yet Socioeconomic Disparities Persist in Illinois Students' Later Earnings. Illinois High School to Career Series. Part One |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sarah Cashdollar, Meg Bates, Jenny Nagaoka, Erin Mitchell, Caitlin Clinton, Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), University of Chicago Consortium on School Research |
| Source: | Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative, Discovery Partners Institute. 2025. |
| Availability: | Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, State of Illinois for Discovery Partners Institute. 200 South Wacker Drive, 20th Floor, Chicago, IL 60304. Tel: 217-766-6779; e-mail: IWERC@mx.uillinois.edu; Web site: https://dpi.uillinois.edu/applied-research/iwerc/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 51 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | High Schools Secondary Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Education Work Relationship, High School Seniors, Socioeconomic Status, Low Income Students, Postsecondary Education, Careers, Income, Educational Attainment, Industry, Outcomes of Education, Racial Differences, Gender Differences, Social Mobility, Geographic Location |
| Geographic Terms: | Illinois |
| Abstract: | In a society where individuals can control their own destiny, socioeconomic origins would have little bearing on educational outcomes or earnings prospects. This ideal has driven the work of generations of Illinois educators, activists, policymakers, and employers, and it animates current statewide efforts to provide equal opportunities and equitable outcomes for all residents. In this context, do the present-day opportunities available to youth from low-income families offer secure futures, or do they perpetuate the precarious state of low wages across generations? This study, the first in the Illinois High School to Career series, examines education and earnings outcomes for Illinois youth from families across the socioeconomic spectrum. It draws on data from the Illinois High School to Career project, which documents the post-high school pathways of select Illinois high school seniors from the classes of 2008 to 2012, including their postsecondary educational experiences and career outcomes. Findings show that for these students, the economic environment in which they were raised is not destiny, but it does matter a great deal for predicting outcomes, intersecting with race and gender to exacerbate existing inequalities. This report reviews existing literature on intergenerational mobility and provides background on the Illinois High School to Career project and data sample. The authors then describe the demographic characteristics of Illinois high school seniors from low-income households and examine their postsecondary educational and career pathways, including the highest degrees they earned, their degree programs, their industries of employment, and earnings. Finally, this report compares how students from households with different income levels varied in their career earnings when grouped by race, gender, highest degree, degree program, and industry of employment. The findings suggest that work to expand educational and employment opportunity can indeed create upward socioeconomic mobility, yet Illinois remains far from achieving its meritocratic ideals. At the same time, the authors observed many low-income students across racial/ethnic and gender groups who beat the odds, earning high levels of education and robust wages. Report 2 of the Illinois High School to Career series, Promising Pathways, will examine the pathways of these outlier students, remaining cognizant that their very status as outliers evinces the presence of systemic and pervasive inequalities. [Pritzker Traubert Foundation supported this work.] |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | ED675403 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | In a society where individuals can control their own destiny, socioeconomic origins would have little bearing on educational outcomes or earnings prospects. This ideal has driven the work of generations of Illinois educators, activists, policymakers, and employers, and it animates current statewide efforts to provide equal opportunities and equitable outcomes for all residents. In this context, do the present-day opportunities available to youth from low-income families offer secure futures, or do they perpetuate the precarious state of low wages across generations? This study, the first in the Illinois High School to Career series, examines education and earnings outcomes for Illinois youth from families across the socioeconomic spectrum. It draws on data from the Illinois High School to Career project, which documents the post-high school pathways of select Illinois high school seniors from the classes of 2008 to 2012, including their postsecondary educational experiences and career outcomes. Findings show that for these students, the economic environment in which they were raised is not destiny, but it does matter a great deal for predicting outcomes, intersecting with race and gender to exacerbate existing inequalities. This report reviews existing literature on intergenerational mobility and provides background on the Illinois High School to Career project and data sample. The authors then describe the demographic characteristics of Illinois high school seniors from low-income households and examine their postsecondary educational and career pathways, including the highest degrees they earned, their degree programs, their industries of employment, and earnings. Finally, this report compares how students from households with different income levels varied in their career earnings when grouped by race, gender, highest degree, degree program, and industry of employment. The findings suggest that work to expand educational and employment opportunity can indeed create upward socioeconomic mobility, yet Illinois remains far from achieving its meritocratic ideals. At the same time, the authors observed many low-income students across racial/ethnic and gender groups who beat the odds, earning high levels of education and robust wages. Report 2 of the Illinois High School to Career series, Promising Pathways, will examine the pathways of these outlier students, remaining cognizant that their very status as outliers evinces the presence of systemic and pervasive inequalities. [Pritzker Traubert Foundation supported this work.] |
|---|
