My research explores cultural and organizational processes of mobility in higher education and work and its intersections with race, class, and gender inequalities.

Inequality and Mobility in the College-to-Career Transition

College is a time when many students start to make critical decisions about their first job, a crucial launching point for their occupational trajectories. However, our understanding of the college-to-career transition is incomplete. In this comparative ethnographic study, I examine how the “experiential core” of higher education (e.g., student clubs, institutional programs, career services, etc.) can produce inequality or promote mobility as students navigate their career pathways. My dissertation study takes place at two different institutions. One university is a highly selective, private institution where many students enter elite professional services careers. Another institution is a public, broader-access institution noted for facilitating economic mobility. This comparative approach examines how racial, class, and gender inequalities intersect with inequality and mobility informed by differing organizational and cultural contexts. Given that postsecondary educational institutions have conferred over two million bachelor’s degrees annually over the past five years, representing millions of college graduates, it is necessary to better understand how colleges and universities facilitate entry into the labor market.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Joyce J. Kim. 2024. “A Moral Dilemma of ‘Selling Out’: Race, Class, and Career Considerations Among Elite College Students.” Social Problems. 0(0):1-16

Joyce J. Kim. 2019. “Conceptualising Global Competence: Situating Cosmopolitan Student Identities within Internationalising South Korean Universities.” Globalisation, Societies and Education. 17(5): 622-637