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Early employment situations and work role satisfaction among recent college graduates
Journal of Vocational Behavior 24, 305-318 (1984)
Early Employment Situations and Work Role Satisfaction among Recent College Graduates ELLEN
W.
RICHARDS
This study examined work role satisfaction as related to employment outcome among recipients of a liberal arts BA at a state university, 1 year (N = 218) and 3 years (N = 156) after graduation. A measure of work role satisfaction was developed and described. The relationship of work role satisfaction to work situation variables and to sex of the respondent was examined, using crosstabular analysis, analysis of variance, and f tests, to assess shifts in satisfaction over time. Job Fit Index (a measure of underemployment), income, and job stability were all related to satisfaction. Findings suggested that priorities may change over time. Changes in Job Fit Index scores were related to changing levels of satisfaction, and interpretations suggested.
In the decades since World War II, the proportion of students who attend college has risen substantially at the same time that the size of the college age population has greatly increased. Since the late 1960s it has been clear that there is a serious disparity between the number of college-educatedjob seekersentering the labor market and the number of available jobs requiring a college education (Berg, 1970; O’Toole, 1975). Underemployment among highly educated workers has generally been assumed to be a source of frustration and discontent for those directly affected by it. This assumption is consistent with common sense and with most of the findings that have emerged from the literature on determinants of work satisfaction. However, it has seldom been tested directly. The few studies including material relevant to this assumption have not as yet produced any pattern of results clearly favoring it (Agassi, 1979; Jackson, 1962; Kornhauser, 1975; Wright & Hamilton, 1979). In this report, we have examinedthe relationshipof work role satisfaction to central aspects of the work situation among a population of recent liberal arts college graduates. This work is part of a larger study of employment outcomes among recent graduates. It is a companion work to another piece (Richards, 1984) in which we have examined the relaThe author is an independent consultant. Correspondence and requests for reprints may be addressed to 17 Brockton Street, Mattapan, MA 02126. An earlier version of portions of this paper was presented at the Spring, 1980meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Boston. 305 OOOi-8791/84$3.00 Copyright Q 1984 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
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tionship of personal status characteristics, and variables reflecting educational and occupational preparation, to subsequent occupational experience. There are several potential sources of difficulty in the work situations to which recent graduates must adapt. Underemployment, in the sense of discrepancy between educational preparation and occupational attainment, is the problem which has been most often discussed in both the popular and the technical literature. Such underemployment has been widespread among young graduates in recent years (see, for example, Brown, 1979; Sullivan, 1978; United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1982). Low income is another problem which is frequently experienced by entry-level workers in most fields, particularly when availability of qualified workers substantially exceeds demand. Job instability is common among lower status workers, and increasingly common (to the extent that the overall economic situation remains difficult) among workers of other status levels, especially those who lack seniority. These employment problems may occur separately or in combination. For example, many of the entry-level professional jobs to which BA graduates have access are relatively low paid and are not secure. Lowerlevel administrative or clerical jobs may be more secure, while manual jobs are frequently better paid. Our own data showed only modest relationships between occupational-educational fit, on the one hand, and income and job stability, on the other. The relationship between income and job stability was stronger, but still only moderate in size. Thus, most graduates are not faced with the alternative of obtaining a job with many desirable attributes and a job with none. Rather, to the extent that their situations permit vocational choices, they must choose among a series of more or less rewarding possibilities on the basis of their own needs and values. To this extent, discussions and analyses of employment problems facing college graduates have tended to oversimplify the real issues that individuals must face. Of the problems in work situation discussed above, we expected underemployment to be most strongly associated with dissatisfaction. There is much evidence pointing to the paramount importance of intrinsic sources of satisfaction among most workers at all status levels, and even more consistently among highly educated workers (Agassi, 1979; Berg, 1970; Grandjean & Taylor, 1980; Kahn, 1972;Kaheberg, 1977; Kohn & Schooler, 1973; Locke, 1976; Work in America, 1973; Wright & Hamilton, 1979). The assumption that workers who are not underemployed will find greater intrinsic satisfaction in their work can be made for two reasons. First, those who can utilize interests and skills developed in the course of their educational preparation should find their jobs more interesting and rewarding. Second, most jobs unrelated to educational preparation are also lower status jobs. In our industrial economy, higher status jobs, on the
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average, offer more substantial sources of intrinsic satisfaction (Agassi, 1979; Berg, 1970; Gruenberg, 1980; Kahn, 1972; Kasl, 1974; Kohn & Schooler, 1973; Quinn dz Staines, 1979; Robinson, 1969; Work in America, 1973). We expected income and job stability also to be of substantial and measurable importance in determining satisfaction with the work situation. Income is among the most important job features for many workers at all status levels (Centers & Bugental, 1966; Gruenberg, 1980; Kilpatrick, Cummings, & Jennings, 1964; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Robinson, 1969). Job stability has been given less systematic attention. Measures from one well-known data set include it with income, in a factor labeled “financial” (Kalleberg, 1977; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Voydanoff, 1978). Fragmentary evidence suggests that job security has been of relatively low salience to higher status workers (Centers & Bugental, 1966;Kilpatrick et al., 1964; Robinson, 1969). However, recent college graduates in the present job market cannot take job security for granted. Hence, we would expect its salience to increase. Similar interpretations have been made by Kalleberg (1977), who pointed out that the relative importance of various aspects of work situation may be historically specific, and by Kornhauser, who remarked of job security, “we must assume that the impact of this variable changes radically with changing conditions of the individual and the labor market (1975, p. 177).” In our analysis, we focused upon the relationship of work role satisfaction to three variables: job fit (a measure of underemployment), income, and job stability. We examined the impact of these variables alone and in combination, and also compared underemployed to unemployed respondents. We analyzed our major results for men and women separately as well as together, because so much of the literature on work has included only male respondents. We included full-time versus part-time employment as a control variable where necessary. Other variables used in preliminary analysis, but not included in this report, were age, undergraduate major, grade point average, and graduate’ school attendance. Respondents were surveyed 1 and 3 years after graduation, so as to capture information about early adjustment and to formulate tentative conclusions about long-term outcome. Thus, it became both possible and necessary to look at changes in satisfaction over time. However, the existing evidence was too limited to help us predict with much confidence what changes would be found. Dissatisfaction has generally been reported to decrease with age and time in the labor force (Berg, 1970; Kalleberg, 1977; Kornhauser, 1975; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Robinson, Athanasiou, & Head, 1969). However, individual work history has not generally been included as a variable in these assessments.The decrease in dissatisfaction with age has been attributed to psychological factors, such as “changing work values,” “ reduction in cognitive dissonance,” or “reconcilement.”
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These are certainly reasonable explanations. However, other explanations are also possible. There may have been modest upward mobility over the course of most individuals’ work histories, which would not necessarily be evident in a cross-sectional sample. This is a relevant consideration, since in the early years after college, one would expect some general improvement in occupational situation. Over time, there may also be a shift of the most dissatisfied workers into other jobs or occupations. Such shifts might not result in clear patterns of upward or downward mobility. Yet they might result in more satisfactory individual adaptations. To the extent feasible with our sample and design, we have explored changes in satisfaction and have suggested why such changes may have occurred. METHOD The respondents, liberal arts BA graduates of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, were surveyed in 1978 and 1980, 1 and 3 years after graduation. From an initial systematic random sample of 334, there were 218 respondents in the first survey and 156 in the second. This analysis omits those who were or had been full-time graduate students, and the few respondents not in the labor force. A more detailed description of sampling, questionnaire, and procedure may be found in Richards (1984). Measures
We used five measures of employment situation in this analysis. The Job Fit Index, a measure of occupational-educational fit? reflects occupation, BA requirement, and relevance of job to field of study. The other four were income, job stability (perceived stability of present job), full-time or part-time status, and employment status. A fuller description of these measures is given in Richards (1984). In choosing a measure for work role satisfaction, we wished to meet several criteria. We wanted a measure that would reflect satisfaction with the overall work situation, in the context of the individual’s life situation and goals, rather than with specific features of the job. We wanted a measure that could be responded to meaningfully both by employed and by unemployed respondents. We needed a measure that was relatively brief, which would have ruled out most “facet-specific measures.” (As one review of work satisfaction measures points out, such measures tend to be either very short or quite long (Robinson et al., 1969, p. 99).) At the same time, we wanted a measure including more than one or two items, since responses can be highly sensitive to small variations in wording, We wanted to rely on direct rather than hypothetical questions; one well-known measure, which we initially considered using, includes a preponderance of such questions (Quinn & Staines, 1979; pp. 21021 1).
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With these considerations in mind, we made the decision to devise our own measure. Because it is new, the measure is presented as an exploratory instrument. The four items used, rather than focusing on specific aspects of work (such as autonomy, job stability, working conditions, etc.) focus on the experience of work in its totality, but in varying contexts in the individual’s frame of reference. Thus, the individual is asked to consider work as an experience in itself, work as it relates to career plans, work as it relates to the individual’s general needs and situation, and work as it affects the rest of life. The four items were these: “When on the job, I feel a sense of accomplishment in the work that I do,” “ I feel that I am advancing in my career,” “I feel satisfied with my work situation, ” “My work situation has had a favorable influence upon my life.” Responses to each were categorized on a 5-point scale, ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. Correlations among the items ranged from .48 to .68. A simple additive index was constructed, with scores ranging from 4 (high satisfaction) to 20 (low satisfaction). For cross-tabular analyses, the measure was condensed into a 5-point scale. The Work Role Satisfaction Index is an ordinal measure, but one that can reasonably be treated as interval for purposes of statistical analysis. Of the five measures of work situation, two were ordinal and two were dichotomies. With this combination of measures, we chose to use Taub as a nonparametric measure of association for the cross-tabular analyses. We used analysis of variance to assessthe independence of the relationships between the work situation variables and work role satisfaction, and t tests for matched samples to assess the statistical significance of shifts in satisfaction scores over time. RESULTS Responses to Work Situation A year after graduation, work situations likely to be experienced as less than satisfactory were common. Eleven percent of the respondents were unemployed, while just over half (52%) were rated as moderately to severely underemployed, a third had definitely or possibly temporary positions, and median income was a modest $10,000. Responses to individual items on the Work Role Satisfaction Index reflected considerable dissatisfaction, and perceptions of blocked mobility were widespread. Only 43% of the employed respondents described themselves as satisfied with their work situations, and the same proportion agreed that they were advancing in their careers. Most respondents did find something positive in the experience of working, however, and found work personally useful. Two-thirds (66%) said that they derived a sense of accomplishment from their work. Most (60%) were positive, and relatively few (17%) were clearly negative about
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the influence of work upon their lives. Thus, acute personal stress caused by work situations appeared to be much less common than feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration. By the 3rd year, some overall improvement in work situation was evident, as would be expected in all but the worst of economic situations. Unemployment had decreased greatly, to only 3%. Fewer than half the respondents (45%) were rated as moderately or severely underemployed, a quarter had definitely or possibly temporary jobs, and median income had increased substantially to $12,000. Frustration and dissatisfaction with the work situation, although still commonly expressed, appeared considerably less widespread than 2 years previous. Over half (54%) of the employed respondents now said they felt satisfied with their work situations, and a slightly greater proportion (57%) that they were advancing in their careers. Three-quarters (76%) felt a sense of accomplishment in their work, and two-thirds (67%) said that work had positively affected their lives. Only 5% now believed that it had had a definitely negative effect. Work Situation and Satisfaction The relation between work situation and satisfaction is shown in Table 1, which shows results for both the 1st and the 3rd year, and for men and women separately. The findings suggested an underlying consistency of response, yet some change in priorities over time. In the total sample, higher Job Fit Index ratings were strongly associated with higher Work Role Satisfaction scores at both time intervals. The relationship was strongest in the 1st year. A comparison of underemployed to unemployed respondents in the 1st year demonstrated, in fact, that the level of satisfaction was almost identical in the two groups (Taub = - .03, n.s.). A moderately large relationship between job stability and satisfaction was also strongest in the 1st year. A mild and barely significant link between income and satisfaction in the 1st year had increased by the 3rd year to moderate in size. Men and women showed very similar patterns of response with regard to both job fit and income, and showed parallel patterns of change over time for both variables. However, job stability was much more strongly associated with satisfaction for women than for men. (The relationship for men was nonsignificant.) A similar finding has been reported by Miller (1980), who found that women’s work satisfaction was more affected than men’s by fear of job loss. Our finding may reflect gender differences in psychological orientation, or in expectations about one’s employability. It could equally well reflect differences in the kinds of “temporary” jobs usually available to men and women, or differences in the ways in which upward mobility usually comes about for the two sexes. This is a question that must await further exploration.
9.93 9.20 11.16 11.57 .13*
9.57 11.73 12.39 .27***
Tau,
Incomeb $12,000+ $10,000+ $8,000+ <$8,000 Tau,
Job stability’ 1 2 3 Tau,
10.50 11.91 11.19 .09
10.41 10.33 11.33 13.00 .13
8.70 10.00 10.38 13.60 .40***
Male
*** p~.OOOl.
* p Q .05. ** p s .Ol.
LI 1 = high job fit while 4 = low job fit. b Full-time workers only. ’ “Probably continue” = 1, “Possibly temporary,”
98 15 36
29 40 37 14
46 26 29 48
8.02 9.12 11.21 13.00 .41***
1 2 3 4
n
Total
Job Fit Index”
“Trial,”
44 11 21
17 21 21 4
23 12 16 25
n
“Provisional”
8.81 11.25 14.07 .44***
9.25 7.95 10.94 11.00 .18
7.35 8.36 12.23 12.35 .43***
Mean work satisfaction (Year 1)
8.72 9.18 12.57 .25**
8.24 9.28 10.29 9.83 .21**
8.26 7.50 10.52 11.42 .30***
Total
= 2, “Definitely
54 4 15
12 19 16 10
23 14 13 23
n
temporary”
81 11 14
49 18 14 6
34 24 29 19
n
= 3.
9.33 10.33 10.88 .17
8.93 10.30 10.00 10.75 .22*
8.06 8.90 10.71 11.50 .27**
Male
40 6 8
29 10 4 4
18 10 14 12
n
8.12 7.80 14.83 .31**
7.25 8.00 10.40 8.00 .25*
8.50 6.50 10.33 11.29 .33**
Female
Mean work satisfaction (Year 3)
TABLE 1 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Year 1 and 3) by Employment Variables (Job Fit Index, Income, Job Stability), Alone and with Sex Controlled
-
41 5 6
20 8 10 2
16 14 15 7
n
312
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The level of Work Role Satisfaction was higher for women than for men (Tau, = - .14, p < .05), and remained higher in almost all subcategories of work situation. Robinson, in a review of several survey studies, also reported higher satisfaction among women (1969, p. 66). There is as yet no definitive explanation for this finding, nor did our results give us sufficient clues to suggest a plausible explanation. Analyses of variance were performed to show the joint relationship of the individual variables to work satisfaction at each time period. These allowed us to modify and elaborate upon the picture shown by the individual relationships. Results confirmed the strong contribution of Job Fit Index to Work Role Satisfaction in both years, as well as the decrease in size of the relationship over time (Table 2). The relationship of job stability to satisfaction was again sizable in year 1. This relationship dropped below the level of significance in year 3. In this instance, the apparent size of the decrease was in part the result of a statistical artifact. The analysis includes only full-time workers. Most temporary workers in the 3rd year were also part-time. Among full-time workers, the proportion of temporary employees had decreased so greatly (from 18 to 5%) that meaningful statistical analysis was not possible, since variation from the mean was so small. Thus, we can conclude only that job instability became less common over time. We cannot definitely conclude that it became less salient for those whom it affected. In the analyses of variance, income alone was not significantly related to satisfaction in either year. However, there was an interaction effect between income and job fit which was significant in year 1, while falling just below the level of significance in year 3. Table 3 specifies the nature of this interaction effect, at both time periods. For this analysis, Job Fit Index scores were divided into two categories, High (1, 2) and Low (3, 4). Income was also divided into two categories, approximately at the group median for each year. This dividing point was $10,000 for year 1 and $12,000 for year 3. If income was high, job fit showed a very large relationship to satisfaction, which was equally strong in both years. If income was low, job fit made a significant contribution to satisfaction in year 1, but by year 3 this was no longer the case. Reading the table in the other direction, it may be seen that income was significantly related to satisfaction only if job fit was high, and this relationship increased over time. If job fit was low, satisfaction was low, and income made no visible difference. Although we cannot attribute causality in this relationship with a high degree of certainty, the results are plausible if interpreted at face value. It.looks as if many respondents were operating with a clear set of internal prerequisites as to what constitutes a satisfactory job. A reasonably appropriate match of job to interests and education was, for most, a necessary criterion for satisfaction. Income had some independent im-
458.16 202.46 64.25 26.03 48.75 56.90 17.41
1136.85 771.94 1908.79
Two-way interactions Job fit-income Job fit-stability Job fit-sex Income-stability Income-sex Stability-sex
Explained Residual Total
Note. Year 1 N = 116; year 3 N = 87.
678.70 324.93 12.54 127.31 14.89
Main Effects Job Fit Index Income Job stability Sex
Sum of squares
36 79 115
27 9 5 3 5 3 2
df
1.74 2.30 1.32 .89 1.00 1.94 .89 3.23
31.58 9.77 16.60
7.72 11.08 .43 6.51 1.52
16.97 22.50 12.85 8.68 9.75 18.97 8.70
75.41 108.31 4.18 63.66 14.89
.OOl
.03 .02 .27 .45 .43 .13 .41
.OOl .OOl .73 ,002 .22
489.34 448.73 938.07
218.23 140.31 47.66 28.38 19.87 11.01 .24
271.11 149.98 50.75 14.99 31.96
Sum of squares
31 55 86
22 9 5 3 2 2 1
9 3 3 2 1
df
15.79 8.16 10.91
9.92 15.59 9.53 9.46 9.93 5.50 .24
30.12 49.99 16.92 7.50 31.96
Mean square
P
Mean square F
Year 3
Year 1
1.94
1.22 1.91 1.17 1.16 1.22 .68 .03
3.69 6.13 2.07 .92 3.92
F
TABLE 2 Analyses of Variance: Work Role Satisfaction (Year 1 and 3) by Employment Variables (Job Fit Index, Income, Job Stability) and Sex (Full-Time Workers Only)
.02
.27 .07 .34 .33 .30 .51 .87
.OOl .OOl .I1 .41 .05
P
w w
314
ELLEN W. RICHARDS TABLE 3 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Year 1 and 3) by Job Fit Index and Income (Full-Time Workers Only) Job Fit Index
Income (Year 1) High ($lO,OOO+) Low (<$lO,OOO) Tau,
High (1,2)
Low (3,4)
7.74
11.86 (39)
(29)
(21)
12.52 (29) .06
9.76 .23*
Tau,
-
.47*** .26*
Income(Year3) High ($12,000+)
6.84
(32) Low (<$12,000)
9.19
(21) Tau,
.36**
10.88 (17) 10.41 (17) -.lO
.50*** .16
Note. N’s appear in parentheses. * p s .05. ** p 6 .Ol. *** p~.OOOl.
portance, if the basic criteria for occupational-educational fit were satisfied, and this importance increased with time. Thus, for the newer graduates, even low-income jobs that were appropriate to education were often satisfying. Over time, this was decreasingly the case. This change could have resulted from changing personal needs and priorities. There was some evidence, for example, that low income delayed independent household formation. Job Fit Changes and Satisfaction There was a significant increase between surveys in the mean level of work role satisfaction (mean difference = 1.66, t = 4.02, p < .OOOl). To gain additional evidence as to possible reasons for this change, we examined the relationship between changes in Job Fit Index scores and shifts in level of satisfaction. This exploratory analysis provided some interesting suggestive evidence as to the adaptational processes underlying the changes in group level of satisfaction. In our discussion we have examined three possibilities, which are not mutually exclusive. First, satisfaction may have risen because of improvement in occupational situation for the group as a whole, as reflected in a greater frequency of upward than downward movement in Job Fit Index scores. Second, satisfaction may have risen because the least satisfied workers changed occupational categories, in a direction resulting in greater satisfaction.
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AND SATISFACTION
Third, satisfaction may have risen due to a psychological process of accommodation, an idea that several authors have supported in one form or another. In the 2 years between surveys, job changes were common. These changes were frequently reflected in shifts in Job Fit Index scores. Onestep changes were reported by 44% of the respondents, and changes of two steps or more by an additional 12%. Of the total group who were employed both surveys, 36% reported improved job fit, 20% reported downward change, 25% were stable high scorers (with scores of l-l or 2-2) and 19% were stable low scorers (with scores of 3-3 or 4-4). Table 4 shows changes in mean satisfaction levels for each of these four groups. It may be noted that the mean level of satisfaction increased between surveys in all four groups. The increase in satisfaction was largest for the group who had made upward shifts in Job Fit scores, suggesting that part of the change in group level of satisfaction was indeed due to actual improvements in situation. There was also a significant increase in satisfaction in the Stable Low group. While very few in this group described themselves as highly satisfied, expressions of extreme dissatisfaction did become less common. This change could indeed have resulted from a process of psychological accommodation, as could some of the change in the other three groups. However, the effects of other improvement in situation (e.g., income) cannot be ruled out. Multivariate analysis of change patterns did not appear feasible with our limited sample size. We suggested that some increase in satisfaction over time might come about because of a shift of the least satisfied workers into other occupational categories. We examined this assumption by comparing mean satisfaction levels in year 1 of the Stable High group with those who made downward shifts, and of the Stable Low group with those who made upward shifts. TABLE 4 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Years 1 and 3) by Job Fit Index Shifts Work role satisfaction
Job Fit Index shifts Stable High UP Down Stable Low
* p c .05. ** p < .ooOl.
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Year 1
Year 3
8.23 3.69 11.78 3.82 9.28 2.54 14.47 3.34
7.64 2.90 9.19 3.36 8.61 3.24 12.06 3.05
difference
n
t
.59
22
.81
2.59
32
4.12**
.67
18
.64
2.41
17
2.27*
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In the first comparison, we found that the initial level of satisfaction was indeed significantly higher in the Stable High group than in those who subsequently made downward shifts (Tau, = .30, p < .05). The initial level of job fit was almost identical in the Stable High group and in the group who made downward changes. Thus, it is at least possible that dissatisfaction bore a causal relationship to subsequent change in the latter group. In the second comparison, however, we found that the initial level of satisfaction was significantly lower for the respondents who remained in the Stable Low category than for those who subsequently made upward shifts (Tau, = .25, p < .05). In this instance, there was some initial difference in levels of job fit. (The group who subsequently made upward changes had better jobs to begin with.) The implication we drew from these findings was that dissatisfaction was likely to lead to change only if the resources attendant on a reasonably good occupational position were present. If not, the individual’s level of dissatisfaction may have been largely irrelevant. DISCUSSION The college graduates in this study, like recent graduates nationwide, were confronted with a difficult employment situation. Most frequently in the 1st year after graduation, and to a lessening extent in the years thereafter, they had to take jobs which were educationally inappropriate, poorly paid, or unstable, in varying combinations. These employment problems had predictable results in diminished satisfaction with the work situation. Satisfaction was greatly affected by the fit of occupation to educational preparation. This finding probably reflects the well-documented role of intrinsic factors in determining work satisfaction, although the potential importance of status itself as a reinforcer cannot be ruled out. Satisfaction was moderately linked to job stability in the 1st year after graduation. By the 3rd year, the subjective importance of stability may have diminished somewhat, and unstable jobs had certainly diminished in prevalence. Income appeared to become increasingly important as time went on. However, higher income did not bring about any visible increase in satisfaction unless the job was also educationally appropriate. In the first years after graduation, some general improvement in employment situation was evident. This improvement could be seen in increased income, modestly better levels of job fit, less job instability, and a markedly decreased unemployment rate. The analysis of job fit shifts and satisfaction suggested that even changes to positions that were less educationally appropriate sometimes meant movement in a direction that was better suited to individuai needs. In the end, what impressed us was not so much the employment problems that people faced, as their adaptability in facing them. Most
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graduates were able to support themselves, and thus had already solved the problem of sheer survival. Several aspects of their situation probably contributed to this outcome: their educational level, their age, the fact that the great majority had previous work experience, and the fact that very few were members of racial minority groups, so that problems of discrimination were minimized. Having solved problems of survival, most were attempting to make career progress and to maximize meaningful vocational choices. The mobility analysis suggested that many people were managing to take steps, albeit small ones, toward their vocational goals-or to adapt these goals in terms of the realistic possibilities that were available. The fact that so many had made some progress is encouraging. Nevertheless, it is also true that a graduate’s occupational position the year after graduation had a great deal to do with the probable outcome 2 years later. Some people remained stranded in low-status, dead-end jobs, unhappy or at best resigned to their situations. The social policy issues raised by the existence of such chronic underemployment have been discussed in a variety of forums. These findings also have an immediate practical implication. The jobs taken in the first year after graduation are important in determining future occupational directions. Any effort that can be made to assist the student or new graduate in finding a first job that is appropriate to interests and skills is likely to have a positive effect on long-term vocational outcome. REFERENCES Agassi, J. B. (1979). Women on the job: The attitudes of women to their work. Lexington, MA: Heath. Berg, I. (1970). Education and jobs: The great training robbev. New York: Praeger. Brown, S. C. (1979). Educational attainment of workers-Some trends from 1975to 1978. Monthly
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Centers, R., & Bugental, D. (1966). Intrinsic and extrinsic job motivation among different segments of the working population. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50, 193-197. Grandjean, B. D., & Taylor, P. A. (1980). Job satisfaction among female clerical workers: “Status panic” or the opportunity structure of office work? Sociology of Work and Occupations,
7, 33-53.
Gruenberg, B. (1980). The happy worker: An analysis of educational and occupational differences in determinants of job satisfaction. Americun Journal of Sociology, 86, 247-27 1. Jackson, E. F. (1962). Status consistency and symptoms of stress. American Sociological Review,
27, 469-480.
Kahn, R. L. (1972). The meaning of work: Interpretation and proposals for measurement. In A. Campbell & P. E. Converse (Eds.), The human meaning of social change (pp. 159-203). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Kalleberg, A. L. (1977). Work values and job rewards: A theory of job satisfaction. American
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42, 124- 143.
Kasl, S. V. (1974). Work and mental health. In J. O’Toole (Ed.), Work und the quality of ilye (pp. 171-196). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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Kilpatrick, F., Cummings, M., & Jennings, M. (1964). The image ofthefedera/ service. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute. Kohn, M. L., & Schooler, C. (1973). Occupational experience and psychological functioning: An assessment of reciprocal effects. American Sociological Revieuv, 38, 97-l 18. Kornhauser, A. (1975). Men&/ heulth of the industrial worker. Huntington, NY: Krieger. (Originally published Wiley, 1965). Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In M. Dunnette (Ed.), Hundbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297-1349). Chicago: Rand McNally. Miller, J. (1980). Individual and occupational determinants of job satisfaction: A focus on gender differences. Sociology of Work and Occupations, I, 337-366. O’Toole, J. (1975). The reserve army of the underemployed: I. The world of work. Change, 7, 26-33, 63. survey. Ann Arbor, Quinn, R. P., & Staines, G. L. (1979). The 1977 quality of employment MI: Institute for Survey Research. Richards, E. (1984). Undergraduate preparation and early career outcomes: A study of recent college graduates. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 24, 279-304. Robinson, J. P. (1969). Occupational norms and differences in job satisfaction: A summary of survey research evidence. In J. P. Robinson, R. Athanasiou, & K. B. Head. Measures of occupational attitudes and occupational characteristics (pp. 25-78). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research. Robinson, J. P., Athanasiou, R., & Head, K. B. (1969). General job satisfaction scales. In J. P. Robinson, R. Athanasiou, & K. B. Head. Measures ofoccuputional attitudes and occupational characteristics. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Survey Research. Sullivan, T. A. (1978). Marginal workers, marginal jobs: The underutilization of American workers. Austin, TX: Univ. of Texas Press. United States Commission on Civil Rights. (1982). Unemployment and underemployment among blucks, Hispanics, and women. Clearinghouse Publication 74. Washington, DC: U.S. Govt. Printing Office. Voydanoff, P. (1978). The relationship between perceived job characteristics and job satisfaction among occupational status groups. Sociology of Work und Occupations, 5, 179-192. Work in America. (1973). Report of a special task force to the Secretary of HEW. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Wright, J. D., & Hamilton, R. F. (1979). Education and job attitudes among blue-collar workers. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 6, 59-83. Received: July 19, 1983.
Early Employment Situations and Work Role Satisfaction among Recent College Graduates ELLEN
W.
RICHARDS
This study examined work role satisfaction as related to employment outcome among recipients of a liberal arts BA at a state university, 1 year (N = 218) and 3 years (N = 156) after graduation. A measure of work role satisfaction was developed and described. The relationship of work role satisfaction to work situation variables and to sex of the respondent was examined, using crosstabular analysis, analysis of variance, and f tests, to assess shifts in satisfaction over time. Job Fit Index (a measure of underemployment), income, and job stability were all related to satisfaction. Findings suggested that priorities may change over time. Changes in Job Fit Index scores were related to changing levels of satisfaction, and interpretations suggested.
In the decades since World War II, the proportion of students who attend college has risen substantially at the same time that the size of the college age population has greatly increased. Since the late 1960s it has been clear that there is a serious disparity between the number of college-educatedjob seekersentering the labor market and the number of available jobs requiring a college education (Berg, 1970; O’Toole, 1975). Underemployment among highly educated workers has generally been assumed to be a source of frustration and discontent for those directly affected by it. This assumption is consistent with common sense and with most of the findings that have emerged from the literature on determinants of work satisfaction. However, it has seldom been tested directly. The few studies including material relevant to this assumption have not as yet produced any pattern of results clearly favoring it (Agassi, 1979; Jackson, 1962; Kornhauser, 1975; Wright & Hamilton, 1979). In this report, we have examinedthe relationshipof work role satisfaction to central aspects of the work situation among a population of recent liberal arts college graduates. This work is part of a larger study of employment outcomes among recent graduates. It is a companion work to another piece (Richards, 1984) in which we have examined the relaThe author is an independent consultant. Correspondence and requests for reprints may be addressed to 17 Brockton Street, Mattapan, MA 02126. An earlier version of portions of this paper was presented at the Spring, 1980meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Boston. 305 OOOi-8791/84$3.00 Copyright Q 1984 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
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tionship of personal status characteristics, and variables reflecting educational and occupational preparation, to subsequent occupational experience. There are several potential sources of difficulty in the work situations to which recent graduates must adapt. Underemployment, in the sense of discrepancy between educational preparation and occupational attainment, is the problem which has been most often discussed in both the popular and the technical literature. Such underemployment has been widespread among young graduates in recent years (see, for example, Brown, 1979; Sullivan, 1978; United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1982). Low income is another problem which is frequently experienced by entry-level workers in most fields, particularly when availability of qualified workers substantially exceeds demand. Job instability is common among lower status workers, and increasingly common (to the extent that the overall economic situation remains difficult) among workers of other status levels, especially those who lack seniority. These employment problems may occur separately or in combination. For example, many of the entry-level professional jobs to which BA graduates have access are relatively low paid and are not secure. Lowerlevel administrative or clerical jobs may be more secure, while manual jobs are frequently better paid. Our own data showed only modest relationships between occupational-educational fit, on the one hand, and income and job stability, on the other. The relationship between income and job stability was stronger, but still only moderate in size. Thus, most graduates are not faced with the alternative of obtaining a job with many desirable attributes and a job with none. Rather, to the extent that their situations permit vocational choices, they must choose among a series of more or less rewarding possibilities on the basis of their own needs and values. To this extent, discussions and analyses of employment problems facing college graduates have tended to oversimplify the real issues that individuals must face. Of the problems in work situation discussed above, we expected underemployment to be most strongly associated with dissatisfaction. There is much evidence pointing to the paramount importance of intrinsic sources of satisfaction among most workers at all status levels, and even more consistently among highly educated workers (Agassi, 1979; Berg, 1970; Grandjean & Taylor, 1980; Kahn, 1972;Kaheberg, 1977; Kohn & Schooler, 1973; Locke, 1976; Work in America, 1973; Wright & Hamilton, 1979). The assumption that workers who are not underemployed will find greater intrinsic satisfaction in their work can be made for two reasons. First, those who can utilize interests and skills developed in the course of their educational preparation should find their jobs more interesting and rewarding. Second, most jobs unrelated to educational preparation are also lower status jobs. In our industrial economy, higher status jobs, on the
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average, offer more substantial sources of intrinsic satisfaction (Agassi, 1979; Berg, 1970; Gruenberg, 1980; Kahn, 1972; Kasl, 1974; Kohn & Schooler, 1973; Quinn dz Staines, 1979; Robinson, 1969; Work in America, 1973). We expected income and job stability also to be of substantial and measurable importance in determining satisfaction with the work situation. Income is among the most important job features for many workers at all status levels (Centers & Bugental, 1966; Gruenberg, 1980; Kilpatrick, Cummings, & Jennings, 1964; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Robinson, 1969). Job stability has been given less systematic attention. Measures from one well-known data set include it with income, in a factor labeled “financial” (Kalleberg, 1977; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Voydanoff, 1978). Fragmentary evidence suggests that job security has been of relatively low salience to higher status workers (Centers & Bugental, 1966;Kilpatrick et al., 1964; Robinson, 1969). However, recent college graduates in the present job market cannot take job security for granted. Hence, we would expect its salience to increase. Similar interpretations have been made by Kalleberg (1977), who pointed out that the relative importance of various aspects of work situation may be historically specific, and by Kornhauser, who remarked of job security, “we must assume that the impact of this variable changes radically with changing conditions of the individual and the labor market (1975, p. 177).” In our analysis, we focused upon the relationship of work role satisfaction to three variables: job fit (a measure of underemployment), income, and job stability. We examined the impact of these variables alone and in combination, and also compared underemployed to unemployed respondents. We analyzed our major results for men and women separately as well as together, because so much of the literature on work has included only male respondents. We included full-time versus part-time employment as a control variable where necessary. Other variables used in preliminary analysis, but not included in this report, were age, undergraduate major, grade point average, and graduate’ school attendance. Respondents were surveyed 1 and 3 years after graduation, so as to capture information about early adjustment and to formulate tentative conclusions about long-term outcome. Thus, it became both possible and necessary to look at changes in satisfaction over time. However, the existing evidence was too limited to help us predict with much confidence what changes would be found. Dissatisfaction has generally been reported to decrease with age and time in the labor force (Berg, 1970; Kalleberg, 1977; Kornhauser, 1975; Quinn & Staines, 1979; Robinson, Athanasiou, & Head, 1969). However, individual work history has not generally been included as a variable in these assessments.The decrease in dissatisfaction with age has been attributed to psychological factors, such as “changing work values,” “ reduction in cognitive dissonance,” or “reconcilement.”
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These are certainly reasonable explanations. However, other explanations are also possible. There may have been modest upward mobility over the course of most individuals’ work histories, which would not necessarily be evident in a cross-sectional sample. This is a relevant consideration, since in the early years after college, one would expect some general improvement in occupational situation. Over time, there may also be a shift of the most dissatisfied workers into other jobs or occupations. Such shifts might not result in clear patterns of upward or downward mobility. Yet they might result in more satisfactory individual adaptations. To the extent feasible with our sample and design, we have explored changes in satisfaction and have suggested why such changes may have occurred. METHOD The respondents, liberal arts BA graduates of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, were surveyed in 1978 and 1980, 1 and 3 years after graduation. From an initial systematic random sample of 334, there were 218 respondents in the first survey and 156 in the second. This analysis omits those who were or had been full-time graduate students, and the few respondents not in the labor force. A more detailed description of sampling, questionnaire, and procedure may be found in Richards (1984). Measures
We used five measures of employment situation in this analysis. The Job Fit Index, a measure of occupational-educational fit? reflects occupation, BA requirement, and relevance of job to field of study. The other four were income, job stability (perceived stability of present job), full-time or part-time status, and employment status. A fuller description of these measures is given in Richards (1984). In choosing a measure for work role satisfaction, we wished to meet several criteria. We wanted a measure that would reflect satisfaction with the overall work situation, in the context of the individual’s life situation and goals, rather than with specific features of the job. We wanted a measure that could be responded to meaningfully both by employed and by unemployed respondents. We needed a measure that was relatively brief, which would have ruled out most “facet-specific measures.” (As one review of work satisfaction measures points out, such measures tend to be either very short or quite long (Robinson et al., 1969, p. 99).) At the same time, we wanted a measure including more than one or two items, since responses can be highly sensitive to small variations in wording, We wanted to rely on direct rather than hypothetical questions; one well-known measure, which we initially considered using, includes a preponderance of such questions (Quinn & Staines, 1979; pp. 21021 1).
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With these considerations in mind, we made the decision to devise our own measure. Because it is new, the measure is presented as an exploratory instrument. The four items used, rather than focusing on specific aspects of work (such as autonomy, job stability, working conditions, etc.) focus on the experience of work in its totality, but in varying contexts in the individual’s frame of reference. Thus, the individual is asked to consider work as an experience in itself, work as it relates to career plans, work as it relates to the individual’s general needs and situation, and work as it affects the rest of life. The four items were these: “When on the job, I feel a sense of accomplishment in the work that I do,” “ I feel that I am advancing in my career,” “I feel satisfied with my work situation, ” “My work situation has had a favorable influence upon my life.” Responses to each were categorized on a 5-point scale, ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. Correlations among the items ranged from .48 to .68. A simple additive index was constructed, with scores ranging from 4 (high satisfaction) to 20 (low satisfaction). For cross-tabular analyses, the measure was condensed into a 5-point scale. The Work Role Satisfaction Index is an ordinal measure, but one that can reasonably be treated as interval for purposes of statistical analysis. Of the five measures of work situation, two were ordinal and two were dichotomies. With this combination of measures, we chose to use Taub as a nonparametric measure of association for the cross-tabular analyses. We used analysis of variance to assessthe independence of the relationships between the work situation variables and work role satisfaction, and t tests for matched samples to assess the statistical significance of shifts in satisfaction scores over time. RESULTS Responses to Work Situation A year after graduation, work situations likely to be experienced as less than satisfactory were common. Eleven percent of the respondents were unemployed, while just over half (52%) were rated as moderately to severely underemployed, a third had definitely or possibly temporary positions, and median income was a modest $10,000. Responses to individual items on the Work Role Satisfaction Index reflected considerable dissatisfaction, and perceptions of blocked mobility were widespread. Only 43% of the employed respondents described themselves as satisfied with their work situations, and the same proportion agreed that they were advancing in their careers. Most respondents did find something positive in the experience of working, however, and found work personally useful. Two-thirds (66%) said that they derived a sense of accomplishment from their work. Most (60%) were positive, and relatively few (17%) were clearly negative about
310
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the influence of work upon their lives. Thus, acute personal stress caused by work situations appeared to be much less common than feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration. By the 3rd year, some overall improvement in work situation was evident, as would be expected in all but the worst of economic situations. Unemployment had decreased greatly, to only 3%. Fewer than half the respondents (45%) were rated as moderately or severely underemployed, a quarter had definitely or possibly temporary jobs, and median income had increased substantially to $12,000. Frustration and dissatisfaction with the work situation, although still commonly expressed, appeared considerably less widespread than 2 years previous. Over half (54%) of the employed respondents now said they felt satisfied with their work situations, and a slightly greater proportion (57%) that they were advancing in their careers. Three-quarters (76%) felt a sense of accomplishment in their work, and two-thirds (67%) said that work had positively affected their lives. Only 5% now believed that it had had a definitely negative effect. Work Situation and Satisfaction The relation between work situation and satisfaction is shown in Table 1, which shows results for both the 1st and the 3rd year, and for men and women separately. The findings suggested an underlying consistency of response, yet some change in priorities over time. In the total sample, higher Job Fit Index ratings were strongly associated with higher Work Role Satisfaction scores at both time intervals. The relationship was strongest in the 1st year. A comparison of underemployed to unemployed respondents in the 1st year demonstrated, in fact, that the level of satisfaction was almost identical in the two groups (Taub = - .03, n.s.). A moderately large relationship between job stability and satisfaction was also strongest in the 1st year. A mild and barely significant link between income and satisfaction in the 1st year had increased by the 3rd year to moderate in size. Men and women showed very similar patterns of response with regard to both job fit and income, and showed parallel patterns of change over time for both variables. However, job stability was much more strongly associated with satisfaction for women than for men. (The relationship for men was nonsignificant.) A similar finding has been reported by Miller (1980), who found that women’s work satisfaction was more affected than men’s by fear of job loss. Our finding may reflect gender differences in psychological orientation, or in expectations about one’s employability. It could equally well reflect differences in the kinds of “temporary” jobs usually available to men and women, or differences in the ways in which upward mobility usually comes about for the two sexes. This is a question that must await further exploration.
9.93 9.20 11.16 11.57 .13*
9.57 11.73 12.39 .27***
Tau,
Incomeb $12,000+ $10,000+ $8,000+ <$8,000 Tau,
Job stability’ 1 2 3 Tau,
10.50 11.91 11.19 .09
10.41 10.33 11.33 13.00 .13
8.70 10.00 10.38 13.60 .40***
Male
*** p~.OOOl.
* p Q .05. ** p s .Ol.
LI 1 = high job fit while 4 = low job fit. b Full-time workers only. ’ “Probably continue” = 1, “Possibly temporary,”
98 15 36
29 40 37 14
46 26 29 48
8.02 9.12 11.21 13.00 .41***
1 2 3 4
n
Total
Job Fit Index”
“Trial,”
44 11 21
17 21 21 4
23 12 16 25
n
“Provisional”
8.81 11.25 14.07 .44***
9.25 7.95 10.94 11.00 .18
7.35 8.36 12.23 12.35 .43***
Mean work satisfaction (Year 1)
8.72 9.18 12.57 .25**
8.24 9.28 10.29 9.83 .21**
8.26 7.50 10.52 11.42 .30***
Total
= 2, “Definitely
54 4 15
12 19 16 10
23 14 13 23
n
temporary”
81 11 14
49 18 14 6
34 24 29 19
n
= 3.
9.33 10.33 10.88 .17
8.93 10.30 10.00 10.75 .22*
8.06 8.90 10.71 11.50 .27**
Male
40 6 8
29 10 4 4
18 10 14 12
n
8.12 7.80 14.83 .31**
7.25 8.00 10.40 8.00 .25*
8.50 6.50 10.33 11.29 .33**
Female
Mean work satisfaction (Year 3)
TABLE 1 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Year 1 and 3) by Employment Variables (Job Fit Index, Income, Job Stability), Alone and with Sex Controlled
-
41 5 6
20 8 10 2
16 14 15 7
n
312
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W. RICHARDS
The level of Work Role Satisfaction was higher for women than for men (Tau, = - .14, p < .05), and remained higher in almost all subcategories of work situation. Robinson, in a review of several survey studies, also reported higher satisfaction among women (1969, p. 66). There is as yet no definitive explanation for this finding, nor did our results give us sufficient clues to suggest a plausible explanation. Analyses of variance were performed to show the joint relationship of the individual variables to work satisfaction at each time period. These allowed us to modify and elaborate upon the picture shown by the individual relationships. Results confirmed the strong contribution of Job Fit Index to Work Role Satisfaction in both years, as well as the decrease in size of the relationship over time (Table 2). The relationship of job stability to satisfaction was again sizable in year 1. This relationship dropped below the level of significance in year 3. In this instance, the apparent size of the decrease was in part the result of a statistical artifact. The analysis includes only full-time workers. Most temporary workers in the 3rd year were also part-time. Among full-time workers, the proportion of temporary employees had decreased so greatly (from 18 to 5%) that meaningful statistical analysis was not possible, since variation from the mean was so small. Thus, we can conclude only that job instability became less common over time. We cannot definitely conclude that it became less salient for those whom it affected. In the analyses of variance, income alone was not significantly related to satisfaction in either year. However, there was an interaction effect between income and job fit which was significant in year 1, while falling just below the level of significance in year 3. Table 3 specifies the nature of this interaction effect, at both time periods. For this analysis, Job Fit Index scores were divided into two categories, High (1, 2) and Low (3, 4). Income was also divided into two categories, approximately at the group median for each year. This dividing point was $10,000 for year 1 and $12,000 for year 3. If income was high, job fit showed a very large relationship to satisfaction, which was equally strong in both years. If income was low, job fit made a significant contribution to satisfaction in year 1, but by year 3 this was no longer the case. Reading the table in the other direction, it may be seen that income was significantly related to satisfaction only if job fit was high, and this relationship increased over time. If job fit was low, satisfaction was low, and income made no visible difference. Although we cannot attribute causality in this relationship with a high degree of certainty, the results are plausible if interpreted at face value. It.looks as if many respondents were operating with a clear set of internal prerequisites as to what constitutes a satisfactory job. A reasonably appropriate match of job to interests and education was, for most, a necessary criterion for satisfaction. Income had some independent im-
458.16 202.46 64.25 26.03 48.75 56.90 17.41
1136.85 771.94 1908.79
Two-way interactions Job fit-income Job fit-stability Job fit-sex Income-stability Income-sex Stability-sex
Explained Residual Total
Note. Year 1 N = 116; year 3 N = 87.
678.70 324.93 12.54 127.31 14.89
Main Effects Job Fit Index Income Job stability Sex
Sum of squares
36 79 115
27 9 5 3 5 3 2
df
1.74 2.30 1.32 .89 1.00 1.94 .89 3.23
31.58 9.77 16.60
7.72 11.08 .43 6.51 1.52
16.97 22.50 12.85 8.68 9.75 18.97 8.70
75.41 108.31 4.18 63.66 14.89
.OOl
.03 .02 .27 .45 .43 .13 .41
.OOl .OOl .73 ,002 .22
489.34 448.73 938.07
218.23 140.31 47.66 28.38 19.87 11.01 .24
271.11 149.98 50.75 14.99 31.96
Sum of squares
31 55 86
22 9 5 3 2 2 1
9 3 3 2 1
df
15.79 8.16 10.91
9.92 15.59 9.53 9.46 9.93 5.50 .24
30.12 49.99 16.92 7.50 31.96
Mean square
P
Mean square F
Year 3
Year 1
1.94
1.22 1.91 1.17 1.16 1.22 .68 .03
3.69 6.13 2.07 .92 3.92
F
TABLE 2 Analyses of Variance: Work Role Satisfaction (Year 1 and 3) by Employment Variables (Job Fit Index, Income, Job Stability) and Sex (Full-Time Workers Only)
.02
.27 .07 .34 .33 .30 .51 .87
.OOl .OOl .I1 .41 .05
P
w w
314
ELLEN W. RICHARDS TABLE 3 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Year 1 and 3) by Job Fit Index and Income (Full-Time Workers Only) Job Fit Index
Income (Year 1) High ($lO,OOO+) Low (<$lO,OOO) Tau,
High (1,2)
Low (3,4)
7.74
11.86 (39)
(29)
(21)
12.52 (29) .06
9.76 .23*
Tau,
-
.47*** .26*
Income(Year3) High ($12,000+)
6.84
(32) Low (<$12,000)
9.19
(21) Tau,
.36**
10.88 (17) 10.41 (17) -.lO
.50*** .16
Note. N’s appear in parentheses. * p s .05. ** p 6 .Ol. *** p~.OOOl.
portance, if the basic criteria for occupational-educational fit were satisfied, and this importance increased with time. Thus, for the newer graduates, even low-income jobs that were appropriate to education were often satisfying. Over time, this was decreasingly the case. This change could have resulted from changing personal needs and priorities. There was some evidence, for example, that low income delayed independent household formation. Job Fit Changes and Satisfaction There was a significant increase between surveys in the mean level of work role satisfaction (mean difference = 1.66, t = 4.02, p < .OOOl). To gain additional evidence as to possible reasons for this change, we examined the relationship between changes in Job Fit Index scores and shifts in level of satisfaction. This exploratory analysis provided some interesting suggestive evidence as to the adaptational processes underlying the changes in group level of satisfaction. In our discussion we have examined three possibilities, which are not mutually exclusive. First, satisfaction may have risen because of improvement in occupational situation for the group as a whole, as reflected in a greater frequency of upward than downward movement in Job Fit Index scores. Second, satisfaction may have risen because the least satisfied workers changed occupational categories, in a direction resulting in greater satisfaction.
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AND SATISFACTION
Third, satisfaction may have risen due to a psychological process of accommodation, an idea that several authors have supported in one form or another. In the 2 years between surveys, job changes were common. These changes were frequently reflected in shifts in Job Fit Index scores. Onestep changes were reported by 44% of the respondents, and changes of two steps or more by an additional 12%. Of the total group who were employed both surveys, 36% reported improved job fit, 20% reported downward change, 25% were stable high scorers (with scores of l-l or 2-2) and 19% were stable low scorers (with scores of 3-3 or 4-4). Table 4 shows changes in mean satisfaction levels for each of these four groups. It may be noted that the mean level of satisfaction increased between surveys in all four groups. The increase in satisfaction was largest for the group who had made upward shifts in Job Fit scores, suggesting that part of the change in group level of satisfaction was indeed due to actual improvements in situation. There was also a significant increase in satisfaction in the Stable Low group. While very few in this group described themselves as highly satisfied, expressions of extreme dissatisfaction did become less common. This change could indeed have resulted from a process of psychological accommodation, as could some of the change in the other three groups. However, the effects of other improvement in situation (e.g., income) cannot be ruled out. Multivariate analysis of change patterns did not appear feasible with our limited sample size. We suggested that some increase in satisfaction over time might come about because of a shift of the least satisfied workers into other occupational categories. We examined this assumption by comparing mean satisfaction levels in year 1 of the Stable High group with those who made downward shifts, and of the Stable Low group with those who made upward shifts. TABLE 4 Mean Work Satisfaction Scores (Years 1 and 3) by Job Fit Index Shifts Work role satisfaction
Job Fit Index shifts Stable High UP Down Stable Low
* p c .05. ** p < .ooOl.
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Year 1
Year 3
8.23 3.69 11.78 3.82 9.28 2.54 14.47 3.34
7.64 2.90 9.19 3.36 8.61 3.24 12.06 3.05
difference
n
t
.59
22
.81
2.59
32
4.12**
.67
18
.64
2.41
17
2.27*
316
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In the first comparison, we found that the initial level of satisfaction was indeed significantly higher in the Stable High group than in those who subsequently made downward shifts (Tau, = .30, p < .05). The initial level of job fit was almost identical in the Stable High group and in the group who made downward changes. Thus, it is at least possible that dissatisfaction bore a causal relationship to subsequent change in the latter group. In the second comparison, however, we found that the initial level of satisfaction was significantly lower for the respondents who remained in the Stable Low category than for those who subsequently made upward shifts (Tau, = .25, p < .05). In this instance, there was some initial difference in levels of job fit. (The group who subsequently made upward changes had better jobs to begin with.) The implication we drew from these findings was that dissatisfaction was likely to lead to change only if the resources attendant on a reasonably good occupational position were present. If not, the individual’s level of dissatisfaction may have been largely irrelevant. DISCUSSION The college graduates in this study, like recent graduates nationwide, were confronted with a difficult employment situation. Most frequently in the 1st year after graduation, and to a lessening extent in the years thereafter, they had to take jobs which were educationally inappropriate, poorly paid, or unstable, in varying combinations. These employment problems had predictable results in diminished satisfaction with the work situation. Satisfaction was greatly affected by the fit of occupation to educational preparation. This finding probably reflects the well-documented role of intrinsic factors in determining work satisfaction, although the potential importance of status itself as a reinforcer cannot be ruled out. Satisfaction was moderately linked to job stability in the 1st year after graduation. By the 3rd year, the subjective importance of stability may have diminished somewhat, and unstable jobs had certainly diminished in prevalence. Income appeared to become increasingly important as time went on. However, higher income did not bring about any visible increase in satisfaction unless the job was also educationally appropriate. In the first years after graduation, some general improvement in employment situation was evident. This improvement could be seen in increased income, modestly better levels of job fit, less job instability, and a markedly decreased unemployment rate. The analysis of job fit shifts and satisfaction suggested that even changes to positions that were less educationally appropriate sometimes meant movement in a direction that was better suited to individuai needs. In the end, what impressed us was not so much the employment problems that people faced, as their adaptability in facing them. Most
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graduates were able to support themselves, and thus had already solved the problem of sheer survival. Several aspects of their situation probably contributed to this outcome: their educational level, their age, the fact that the great majority had previous work experience, and the fact that very few were members of racial minority groups, so that problems of discrimination were minimized. Having solved problems of survival, most were attempting to make career progress and to maximize meaningful vocational choices. The mobility analysis suggested that many people were managing to take steps, albeit small ones, toward their vocational goals-or to adapt these goals in terms of the realistic possibilities that were available. The fact that so many had made some progress is encouraging. Nevertheless, it is also true that a graduate’s occupational position the year after graduation had a great deal to do with the probable outcome 2 years later. Some people remained stranded in low-status, dead-end jobs, unhappy or at best resigned to their situations. The social policy issues raised by the existence of such chronic underemployment have been discussed in a variety of forums. These findings also have an immediate practical implication. The jobs taken in the first year after graduation are important in determining future occupational directions. Any effort that can be made to assist the student or new graduate in finding a first job that is appropriate to interests and skills is likely to have a positive effect on long-term vocational outcome. REFERENCES Agassi, J. B. (1979). Women on the job: The attitudes of women to their work. Lexington, MA: Heath. Berg, I. (1970). Education and jobs: The great training robbev. New York: Praeger. Brown, S. C. (1979). Educational attainment of workers-Some trends from 1975to 1978. Monthly
Labor Review,
102, 54-58.
Centers, R., & Bugental, D. (1966). Intrinsic and extrinsic job motivation among different segments of the working population. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50, 193-197. Grandjean, B. D., & Taylor, P. A. (1980). Job satisfaction among female clerical workers: “Status panic” or the opportunity structure of office work? Sociology of Work and Occupations,
7, 33-53.
Gruenberg, B. (1980). The happy worker: An analysis of educational and occupational differences in determinants of job satisfaction. Americun Journal of Sociology, 86, 247-27 1. Jackson, E. F. (1962). Status consistency and symptoms of stress. American Sociological Review,
27, 469-480.
Kahn, R. L. (1972). The meaning of work: Interpretation and proposals for measurement. In A. Campbell & P. E. Converse (Eds.), The human meaning of social change (pp. 159-203). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Kalleberg, A. L. (1977). Work values and job rewards: A theory of job satisfaction. American
Sociological
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