Study: Higher education leads to better jobs but less satisfaction
Earning higher degrees leads to earning more money and better job opportunities but is also connected to working longer hours, higher job pressures and added stress, which equals lower levels of job satisfaction, according to a new study from the University of Notre Dame.
The study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found almost no relationship between people who have invested in formal education and a meaningful work experience. “To clarify, in our research, better job opportunities actually reflect greater autonomy and job variety in addition to earning more money,” said Brittany Solomon, assistant professor of management at the Notre Dame College of Business. Higher job pressures include things like task pressure, job intensity and time urgency, she said. This is important because most adults spend most of their waking hours at work, which is a large part of a person’s core identity. The study also investigated gender differences and found that highly educated women experience higher levels of job dissatisfaction
than highly educated men do.
“We can only speculate why women experience this phenomenon more than men. It’s possible that juggling more roles outside the labor market could have an impact,” Solomon said. Because they tend to be achievement-striving, highly educated women may shoulder greater responsibility in the household and in the labor market to adhere to gender role expectations while aiming to advance their careers, while their male counterparts are not, Solomon said. Self-employed people do not experience these negative effects, perhaps because they may have more control over their work and environment. “Choosing what to work on, when to work on it, and how to go about that work is key for those who are highly educated and self-employed,” Solomon said.
Higher education can be considered a mixed blessing. “It is also possible that people who strive to attain ‘better jobs,’ those that come with higher income, more control and so on, may be unrealistic in their expectations,” Solomon said. They may not fully consider the tradeoffs because they are exclusively or too focused
on the desirable aspects of these better jobs. “Having more realistic expectations should help people better manage their job-related stress and other job demands that undermine how satisfied they are in their jobs,” Solomon said.
People considering pursuing advanced degrees should clarify for themselves what they value and what will make them happy when they go to work on a day-to-day basis, Solomon said. Consider both the rewards, such as income and autonomy, as well as the demands and stress. Be true to yourself, rather than pursuing a path based on what your parents want, what you thought you wanted to do in high school, or what you think sounds impressive when someone asks or looks good on paper, she said.
“I don’t think this study or findings like these should discourage pursuit of higher education or advanced degrees. It’s not that the highly educated cannot experience higher job satisfaction, but higher education does not ensure it,” Solomon said. “Moreover, formal educational attainment is certainly valuable if one is realistic about what the costs and benefits are of the program as well as job prospects.”
