Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Paul’s choice of labor economics as a field and his starting employment from a working class background
• Layperson definition of mal-employment in the college labor market vs gig work
• The effect of lower literacy and numeracy skills on student’s potential for mal-employment.
• The effect of college major on pathway to a job.
• The effect of starting early in college with paid work experiences like cooperative education no matter the choice of major.
• A third of recent graduates are mal-employed, costing them about half the potential salary earnings, which also has an impact on student debt.
• There is still a college advantage but students should develop marketable skills and experiences early and figure out how to turn their college major into a job.
• Experience is particularly helpful in preventing mal-employment in diverse and under-served populations.
• The differences between apprenticeships, internships, and practicums in fields that require experience before one can practice, e.g. health fields.
• Story about Professor Harrington having a “simply irresistible” moniker in some other interviews.

Resources Discussed in this Episode:

• Neeta Fogg and Paul Harrington. Rising Mal-Employment and the Great Recession: The Growing Disconnection between Recent College Graduates and the College Labor Market. Continuing Higher Education Review, Vol. 75, 2011 (link here)
• Paul Harrington at Drexel University

Music Credits: C’est La Vie by Derek Clegg