Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Early labor force participation among youth in the United States marks the important transition from education to paid employment. However, early jobs – as well as labor force participation across the entire life course – are highly stratified by gender and greatly disparate in their social and economic returns. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 has granted millions of dollars in state and federal funding to provide students with the vocational resources to overcome existing structural inequalities and enable the transition into a more diverse workforce. This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to determine if participation in various school-to-work programs influences women’s early labor force entry into gender-segregated jobs. Results suggest that school-to-work programs have little influence on gendered early employment, suggesting a need for more effective implementation of career programs and the urgency for school-to-work transition structures which broaden occupational opportunities for all underrepresented populations.

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Supporting Document