Title

College Majors and Skills: Evidence from the Universe of Online Job Ads

Upjohn Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2534-8164

Publication Date

8-4-2023

Source

Labour Economics 85: 102429

Abstract

We use the near universe of U.S. online job ads to document four new facts about the skills employers demand from college majors. First, some skills––social and organizational––are demanded from all majors whereas others––financial and customer service––are demanded from only particular majors. Second, some majors have skill demand profiles that mirror overall demand for college graduates, such as Business and General Engineering, while other majors, such as Nursing and Education, have relatively rare skill profiles. Third, cross-major differences in skill profiles explain considerable wage variation. Fourth, although major-specific skill demand varies across place, this variation plays little role in explaining wage variation. College majors can thus be reasonably conceptualized as portable bundles of skills.

DOI

10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102429

Publisher

Elsevier-ScienceDirect

Sponsorship

Russell Sage Foundation (grant #1811-09737), the National Science Foundation (grant #1919360), and the PR/Award R305B150012 from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education

Subject Areas

EDUCATION; Postsecondary education; LABOR MARKET ISSUES

Share

COinS
 

Citation

Hemelt, Steven W., Brad Hershbein, Shawn Martin, and Kevin M. Stange. 2023. "College Majors and Skills: Evidence from the Universe of Online Job Ads." Journal of Labour Economics 85: 102429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102429