Overeducation, perceived career progress, and work satisfaction in young adulthood

Some people work in occupations that require lower levels of education than their attained education, and these “overeducated” workers tend to be less satisfied than those who work in occupations that match their attained education. This study sought to extend the previous finding by answering the following previously unexplored questions: (1) Does the association depend on the level of attained education?; and (2) Does perceived career delay account for overeducated workers' lower work satisfaction? Data from U.S. young adults (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Study) showed that the association between overeducation and work satisfaction was limited to severely overeducated workers with bachelor's or graduate degrees and moderately overeducated workers with high school degrees. These people also assessed their career progress more negatively, which accounted for their lower work satisfaction. Analysis of marginal effects demonstrated that among people with bachelor's degree, the effect of severe overeducation was strong enough to cancel out the benefit of holding the degree to improve work satisfaction.