abstract: 'While there has been much research on the influence of educational

  attainment on occupational status and earnings, relatively little is

  known about its impact on other qualities of work, such as job

  complexity. This article explores how educational credentials affect

  access to jobs that provide challenging work. To do so it uses

  longitudinal data on black, Hispanic, and white men and women who

  attended the City University of New York after it initiated its landmark

  open-admissions policy in 1970. That program was designed to boost

  educational attainments among disadvantaged minority students and to

  enhance opportunities for desirable jobs. Analyses reveal that overall

  the jobs held by these minorities involved less complex work than those

  held by whites. These inequalities are explained partly by disparities

  in educational attainment, but differences in employment sector also are

  important: the minorities were more often in the public sector, where

  work was generally less challenging. Gender differences in work

  complexity are related to the varying distribution of sex-typed jobs in

  the public and private sectors. Policies such as open admissions add to

  opportunity in the labor market, but effects are limited by wider

  institutional conditions.'
affiliation: 'HYLLEGARD, D (Corresponding Author), CUNY,OFF INST RES \& ANAL,555 W
  57TH ST,NEW YORK,NY 10019, USA.

  CUNY,LEHMAN COLL,DEPT SOCIOL,NEW YORK,NY 10036.

  CUNY,GRAD SCH,NEW YORK,NY 10036.

  CUNY,UNIV CTR,NEW YORK,NY 10036.'
author: HYLLEGARD, D and LAVIN, DE
author_list:
- family: HYLLEGARD
  given: D
- family: LAVIN
  given: DE
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/BF01125042
files: []
issn: 0884-8971
journal: SOCIOLOGICAL FORUM
keywords: HIGHER EDUCATION; ETHNICITY; GENDER; INEQUALITY; WORK
keywords-plus: 'EQUAL-EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY; OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE;

  COMMUNITY-COLLEGES; MOBILITY; STRATIFICATION; ORGANIZATION; ACHIEVEMENT;

  ATTAINMENT; INDUSTRIAL; AUTHORITY'
language: English
month: JUN
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '68'
pages: 239-260
papis_id: 823edca9c743357af5c7deec907d02f8
ref: Hyllegard1992highereducationchall
times-cited: '12'
title: HIGHER-EDUCATION AND CHALLENGING WORK - OPEN ADMISSIONS AND ETHNIC AND GENDER
  DIFFERENCES IN JOB COMPLEXITY
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:A1992HX29000002
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '11'
volume: '7'
web-of-science-categories: Sociology
year: '1992'