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Career and Family Choices Among Elite Liberal Arts Graduates

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  • Heather Antecol

Abstract

This study describes how the career and family choices of female graduates of the Claremont Colleges within 15 years of undergraduate graduation (unless otherwise specified) have changed across the graduation years of 1960 to 1994. Specifically, I show that female graduates of the Claremont Colleges have clearly shifted away from having their family first (i.e., having at least one biological child) and a job second (i.e., having a job after 15 years of receiving their undergraduate degree but having very weak labor force attachment prior to that) toward simultaneously having both a career (i.e., very strong labor force attachment) and a family for those that graduated after 1979. Finally, I find that the primary mechanisms that allowed for the observed shift toward “career and family” for those that graduated post-1979 appear to be increased access to paid parental leave and childcare. Copyright Population Association of America 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Heather Antecol, 2015. "Career and Family Choices Among Elite Liberal Arts Graduates," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1089-1120, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:52:y:2015:i:4:p:1089-1120
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0408-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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