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Featured Guest Blogger May 26th, 2009

Stephen Sweet, Ph.D. is the Teaching Resources Specialist at the Sloan Work and Family Research Network and an Associate Professor of sociology at Ithaca College. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

What happens to individuals who are trying to enter into the labor force when jobs are scarce?  This is the concern confronting many of my graduating students, who are trying to enter a job market that can best be described as “grim.”  For them, economic insecurity does not come from the prospects of job loss, but from the uncertain prospects of finding a good job in the first place.

Phyllis Moen, Peter Meiksins and I have argued that a commonly held conception of workers as unencumbered individuals underplays the constraints faced by those in insecure jobs.  Consider, for instance the case of new Ph.D.s.  My colleagues who teach in some of the very best graduate level institutions are reporting that few (and in one case none!) of their Ph.D. graduates are finding jobs.  The reason is not only that there are too many Ph.D.s seeking too few jobs, but also that the jobs that were anticipated to be created have evaporated.  For example, the American Sociological Association reports that in comparison to 2006, when there were 610 jobs listed for assistant professors, in 2008, there were only 370 jobs listed.  Unfortunately, I would estimate that the searches for about half of those jobs were cancelled after the advertisements were placed.   But that is half the story.  When new Ph.D.s graduate from their programs, most are in relationships.  Many have started families (or are at the anticipatory stage of family formation) and they will seek jobs thinking of the right life stage-institution-community fit.  Complicating their search further is the fact that many (roughly 1/3) are in relationships with other academics. This means that their career movements will be tightly tied to the career goals of another worker, who may also be seeking employment.  This career convoy is navigated in a job market where most of the job opportunities have dried up.  Grim indeed.

There is a very sad natural experiment going on right now.  What happens to individuals who prepare for upwards of 10-15 years to enter into a career, only to find a closed gate at the entry point?  And for those lucky enough to land one of the few jobs out there, what happens to the careers of their partners and to their relationships?  This could make for a very good study, performed under natural conditions that we all wish were not present.

For more about job insecurity, see my Work and Family Encyclopedia entry as well as a related definition in the Work and Family Glossary.

• Mothers and Fathers , Research , Workplace