in self-efficacy over time (Finch, Shanahan, Mortimer, & Ryu, 1991).
Furthermore, adolescents who report having an opportunity to learn
skills on the job develop stronger intrinsic and extrinsic occupational
reward values (Mortimer et al., 1996), which contribute to voca-
tional development and affect career decision making.
In addition to these social-psychological outcomes of adoles-
cent employment, working may teach young people important job-
seeking skills, like where and how to look for a job and how to
behave during a job interview. Earnings also rise as young people
accumulate work experience. Consistent with these ideas, adoles-
cent employment has been found to have positive effects on adult
occupational attainment, as measured by weeks of employment and
wages (Committee on Child Labor, 1998). Hours of work during
high school reduce the risk of unemployment in the early years fol-
lowing high school (Marsh, 1991; Steel, 1991). High school work
experience also affects women’s employment in young adulthood,
with early experience promoting labor force attachment (Alon,
Donahoe, & Tienda, 2001). And controlling for educational attain-
ment, high school employment has positive effects on wages up to
a decade following high school (Carr, Wright, & Brody, 1996).
In contrast to this positive view of adolescent work and adult
labor market outcomes, other research points to harmful conse-
quences of employment that may interfere with successful adolescent
development (Greenberger & Steinberg, 1986). For example, long
hours of employment during the teen years are linked to substance
use and other delinquent behaviors (Greenberger & Steinberg, 1986;
Mortimer et al., 1996; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Bachman &
Schulenberg, 1993; Mihalic & Elliot, 1997). In addition, the educa-
tional consequences of employment are a matter of great concern.
Studies have produced mixed findings as to whether adolescent em-
ployment hinders students’ academic performance. The issue is com-
plicated by the fact that adolescents who are less academically
engaged and doing less well in school tend to invest more time in
paid work. Longitudinal studies that control earlier performance and
academic orientations do not produce consistent findings (Mortimer
56 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT