University of Minnesota, Division of Health Policy & Management, School of Public Health, 420 Delaware St E, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States.
Georgia State University, Gerontology Institute, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Jun;303:115000. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115000. Epub 2022 May 5.
There has been rapid growth in professional certifications in the health care sector, but little is known about the rewards to workers for attaining professional certifications, especially in low social closure occupations where the barriers to entry (e.g., higher education, degrees, licensure) are relatively limited. In this study, we focus on the attainment and rewards for professional certifications in four health care occupations - personal care aides, medical transcriptionists, medical assistants, and community health workers - where certification is generally not required by state or federal regulation but may be attractive to employers. Using the Current Population Survey (IPUMS CPS) from 2015 to 2020, we find that workers of color have significantly lower odds of attaining a certification, while women are 1.2 times more likely than men to an earn a certification. On average, workers who have earned a professional certification have weekly earnings that are 4.8% higher than workers who do not have a certification. Men experience the largest increase in weekly earnings (11.3%) when they have a professional certification as compared to those without, while women experience lower gains from professional certification (3.8%). Black and Hispanic workers experience modest rewards for certification (weekly earnings that are 1.2% and 5% higher, respectively) that are lower than the rewards gained by white workers (6% higher weekly earnings). Our findings suggest that professional certifications may have modest benefits for workers, but professional certifications often come with significant costs for individuals. Strategies for reducing inequality in the return to credentials and for improving job quality in the care sector are discussed.
医疗保健领域的专业认证迅速增长，但对于获得专业认证对工人的回报知之甚少，尤其是在社会封闭程度较低的职业中，这些职业进入的门槛（例如，高等教育、学位、许可）相对较低。在这项研究中，我们专注于四个医疗保健职业——个人护理助理、医学转录员、医疗助理和社区卫生工作者——获得和获得专业认证的情况，这些职业通常不受州或联邦法规的要求，但可能对雇主有吸引力。我们使用 2015 年至 2020 年的当前人口调查（IPUMS CPS）发现，有色人种工人获得认证的可能性明显较低，而女性获得认证的可能性比男性高 1.2 倍。平均而言，获得专业认证的工人每周收入比没有认证的工人高 4.8%。与没有认证的人相比，拥有专业认证的男性每周收入的增幅最大（11.3%），而女性从专业认证中获得的收益较低（3.8%）。黑人工人和西班牙裔工人获得认证的回报适中（每周收入分别高出 1.2%和 5%），低于白人工人获得的回报（每周收入高出 6%）。我们的研究结果表明，专业认证可能对工人有适度的好处，但专业认证通常会给个人带来巨大的成本。讨论了减少凭证回报不平等和改善护理行业工作质量的策略。
