Table 1.
Weighted descriptive statistics, NLSY and NELS
| NLSY | NELS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||
| Mean/% | Std. Error | Range | Alpha | Mean/% | Std. Error | Range | Alpha | |
| Depression | 8.52 | 0.11 | 0 to 59 | 0.88 | ---- | ---- | ---- | |
| Job satisfaction | 3.33 | 0.01 | 1 to 4 | 83.85% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| SEI of occupational aspiration | 46.94 | 0.30 | 14 to 90 | 55.71 | 0.38 | 19 to 82 | ||
| SEI of occupational attainment | 36.45 | 0.25 | 14 to 90 | 38.52 | 0.31 | 19 to 82 | ||
| Aspirations-attainment match | Expectations-attainment match | |||||||
| Exceeded | 25.33% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 14.84% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Matched | 10.52% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 9.35% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Fell short | 56.66% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 56.55% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Don’t know aspiration | 7.48% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 10.31% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Other aspiration | ---- | ---- | ---- | 8.95% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Employment status | ||||||||
| Currently working | 87.02% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 91.89% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Unemployed | 4.80% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 4.73% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Out of the labor market | 8.19% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 3.38% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Logged income | 9.44 | 0.02 | 3 to 11.4 | 9.79 | 0.03 | 0.7 to 13.2 | ||
| Years of schooling | 13.35 | 0.03 | 0 to 20 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ||
| Educational attainment | ||||||||
| Less than high school graduate | ---- | ---- | ---- | 6.29% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| High school graduate | ---- | ---- | ---- | 17.01% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Some college | ---- | ---- | ---- | 46.67% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| College graduate or more | ---- | ---- | ---- | 30.03% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Married | 60.21% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 39.31% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Never married | 24.38% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 53.57% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Separated/divorced/widowed | 15.41% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 7.13% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Number of children | 1.24 | 0.02 | 0 to 9 | 0.67 | 0.02 | 0 to 5 | ||
| Female | 50.03% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 48.73% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| White | 65.36% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 71.68% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Black | 14.14% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 12.76% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Latin | 6.59% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 11.93% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Other | 13.91% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 3.64% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Age | 17.69 | 0.03 | 14 to 22 | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Age 14–15 | ---- | ---- | ---- | 9.55% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Age 16 | ---- | ---- | ---- | 66.49% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Age 17–19 | ---- | ---- | ---- | 23.96% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Two-parent family | 75.52% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 67.56% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Number of siblings | 3.27 | 0.03 | 0 to 14 | 2.28 | 0.03 | 0 to 6 | ||
| Parent in professional occupation | 16.93% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 21.56% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Parents’ education | ||||||||
| Less than high school | 23.05% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 10.25% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| High school graduate | 43.30% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 21.74% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Some college/technical school | 12.99% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | 39.19% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Four years of college | 20.66% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | 28.82% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ||
| Ability score | 50.08 | 0.40 | 0 to 100 | 51.09 | 0.21 | 32 to 71 | ||
| Self-esteem/self-concept | 32.53 | 0.06 | 16 to 40 | 0.83 | 24.54 | 0.11 | 8 to 32 | 0.82 |
| Job satisfaction in 1979 | ||||||||
| Like it very much | 17.46% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ||
| Like it fairly well | 25.74% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ||
| Dislike it somewhat/very much | 8.22% | 0.00 | 0 to 1 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ||
| Not working | 48.58% | 0.01 | 0 to 1 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ||
|
| ||||||||
| Number | 9,015 | 10,547 | ||||||