Underemployment : Psychological, Economic, and Social Challenges

Underemployment – when people are employed in some way that is insufficient, such as being overqualified or working part-time when one desires full-time employment – is a challenge faced by all industrialized nations and their organizations and individuals. Just like unemployment, some level of underemployment exists even in the best of times, but it becomes more pervasive when the job market is weak. Given the current economic climate in North America and abroad, researchers and scholars in various disciplines (psychology, business, sociology, economics) are becoming more interested in investigating the effects of underemployment and identifying possible practical solutions. Underemployment synthesizes the current understanding of the phenomenon by bringing together scholars with diverse perspectives and expertise with the aim of informing and guiding the next generation of underemployment research.

Douglas C. Maynard is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Bowling Green State University in 1998. He is primarily interested in studying the consequences of overqualification and other forms of underemployment and, more generally, the issues faced by marginalized workers. His work has appeared in such journals as the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Higher Education, Career Development International, Human Performance, and Organizational Research Methods.

Daniel C. Feldman is Associate Dean for Research and the Synovus Chair of Servant Leadership at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.  He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Yale University in 1976.  He is the author of six books and over 150 articles on career development and has served as Chair of the Careers Division of the Academy of Management.  He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Management, Associate Editor of Human Resource Management, and Consulting Editor of Journal of Organizational Behavior.  Professor Feldman has won numerous research awards for his work on socialization, career indecision, layoffs, contingent employment, psychological contracts, and early retirement decisions.