Does early-career underemployment impact future career success? A path dependency perspective

• Published in: Journal of vocational behavior Vol. 90; no. 90; pp. 101 - 110
• Main Authors: Verbruggen, Marijke, Emmerik, Hetty van, Gils, Anita Van, Meng, Christoph, Grip, Andries de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.10.2015; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Atypische Beschäftigung; Auswirkung; Befristeter Arbeitsvertrag; Beruf; Berufsanfänger; Berufserfolg; Berufsverlauf; Careers; Content underemployment; Contingent employment; Hochschulabsolvent; Job satisfaction; Leiharbeit; Level underemployment; Lohnhöhe; Niederlande; Path-dependency; Salary; Studies; Success; Underemployment; Unterbeschäftigung; Unterwertige Beschäftigung; Wages & salaries; Zufriedenheit; Überqualifikation; Netherlands; Contingent employment; Salary; Job satisfaction; Content underemployment; Path-dependency; Level underemployment
• ISSN: 0001-8791; 1095-9084; 1095-9084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.08.002

Whereas many studies have shown that underemployed people experience lower objective career success and lower subjective career success while being underemployed, little research has been done on the lasting effects of underemployment. This study addresses the role of time in career success research by examining the impact of level underemployment, content underemployment and contingent employment on subsequent objective (i.e. salary) and subjective career success (i.e. job satisfaction). Our 10-year longitudinal dataset of 335 Dutch university graduates permits us to examine the impact of preceding underemployment as well as the specific timing of the underemployment in one's career. The multilevel analysis results illustrate that level and contingent underemployment have a negative impact on future pay, whereas content underemployment negatively affects job satisfaction five years later. In addition, for level underemployment also the timing turns out to matter, suggesting that the signal that it sends to employers may differ depending on when in one's career it happened. Taken together, these findings point to the importance of using a path-dependency perspective when trying to understand people's career success. •We tested the impact of level underemployment, content underemployment and contingent employment on future career success.•Level and contingent underemployment, but not content underemployment, had a negative impact on pay five years later.•Content employment, but not level or contingent underemployment, affected job satisfaction five years later.•The negative impact of level underemployment on future pay became stronger over time.•These findings point to the importance of using a path-dependency perspective to understand people's career success.