Adolescent Cognitive Skills, Attitudinal/Behavioral Traits and Career Wages

Abstract

Matthew Hall, Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, Chicago, IN, United States. Email: mshall@uic.edu
Address: 601 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL 60607, United States.

George Farkas, Ph.D., Professor at the School of Education, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States. Email: gfarkas@uci.edu
Address: Irvine, CA 92697, United States.

The authors use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to estimate the effects of cognitive skills and attitudinal/behavioral traits on career wage trajectories of white, black, and Latino/a men and women in the US. Cognitive skills have been measured by the age-adjusted Armed Forces Qualification Test. Attitudinal/behavioral traits are based on self-reported self-esteem, locus of control ( the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them), educational aspirations, and educational expectations revealed through analyzing the result of a self-evaluation test.

The study finds that both cognitive and attitudinal/behavioral traits affect initial wages and wage growth, above and beyond their effects on schooling and transcript-reported high school grades. The relative size of these effects, however, varies by race/ethnicity and gender. The authors also show that black and Latino men, and black women have substantially flatter wage trajectories than white men and women.

Using wage decomposition techniques, the authors find that the lower wages of these groups are partially, but not fully, accounted for by group differences in cognitive skill and attitudinal/behavioral traits. Thus, reducing this gap will help reduce the gap in wages of different racial/ethnic groups (particularly, black and Latina women, and white women). Based on this information, the authors give practical tips for reducing racial discrimination in the labor market.