This project analyses gender and ethnic differences among university graduates in attitudes, preferences and beliefs about the labour market prior to labour market entry, with the final aim of explaining differences in employment and wages after graduation.
Department: Economics
Supervised by: Simonetta Longhi
Eliminating labour market inequalities that exist among groups is an important social policy goal. A better understanding of whether cultural upbringing hinders young people’s choices and aspirations and therefore their success in the labour market is a necessary first step if we want to eliminate inequalities. For this project we are particularly interested in differences by gender and ethnicity. Women and ethnic minorities are more likely to enter higher education than white men but underperform in the labour market. To understand such differences in labour market outcomes we are using web surveys to collect information on job preferences, attitudes, beliefs and job search from students in their final year at the University of Reading. Data will be collected in two waves. The first wave will take place in Spring 2018 when we will ask about preferences and beliefs about the labour market. The second wave will take place in Spring 2019 when we will ask about labour market status and job characteristics. The complete set of answers to the first wave of interviews will be available at the beginning of the Summer. We are seeking a UROP student to help us prepare and analyse the first wave of data, which we will use to analyse gender and ethnic differences among university graduates in attitudes, preferences and beliefs about the labour market.
The analysis of the first wave of data is a stand-alone piece of research. We are seeking a UROP student who can help us in various parts of the research; among these: 1. Double-checking the collected data for mistakes in the answers and preparing the data for analysis. 2. Data analysis to uncover differences by gender and ethnicity in on job preferences, attitudes, beliefs and job search. 3. Literature search and literature review. 4. Writing brief reports of initial findings. We expect that the larger proportion of time will be spent in task 1 and task 3; the proportion of time spent in tasks 2 and 4 will depend on the skills and interest of the student.
- Willingness to learn and to work collaboratively is essential - Familiarity with Excel and Stata is desirable but not essential
The student: - Will learn to work with real data and discuss research in a collaborative environment. - Will gain greater familiarity with software such as Excel and Stata. - Will learn data manipulation skills and skills necessary for data analysis. - Will improve literature search, literature review, citations and referencing skills.
Desk in the department of Economics
Working pattern will be agreed with the supervisor when selected.
Monday 02 July 2018 - Friday 10 August 2018
The post will be advertised centrally on the UROP website between 19th February and 29th March 2018. Please submit a CV and brief cover letter, detailing experience with econometric software and data manipulation directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email).There will be an interview with Dr Simonetta Longhi and Dr Sarah Jewell.