Kyle Albert
Kyle Albert
Associate Research Professor
Contact:
805 21st Street NW, Office 625
Washington DC 20052
Kyle Albert is a sociologist who uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to study emerging alternatives to college degrees, such as professional certifications and certificates, and how those credentials contribute to inequality in organizations and labor markets. His research draws on sociological theory in the sociology of work and professions to explore the motivations of actors in the credentialing marketplace and the causes of the rapid expansion of non-degree credentialing in the United States in recent years, giving special attention to the effects of credentials for disadvantaged and older workers.
Prior to joining GWIPP, Kyle was a Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow on Aging and Work at Harvard University. He completed his Ph.D. in sociology at Cornell University, where his research was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Non-Degree Credentials Research Network
Dr. Albert manages the day-to-day operations of the Non-Degree Credentials Research Network (NCRN). The NCRN will hold three meetings for academic and policy researchers over the next year and is planning to publish an agenda for future directions in non-degree credentials research in advance of a meeting for credentialing stakeholders in October 2020.
Inequality in Training Outcomes for 50+ Displaced Workers
When older workers are displaced from employment, what types and fields of training do they choose and how much do they benefit from obtaining new credentials? In collaboration with Workcred and the AARP Public Policy Institute, Dr. Albert is answering this question for 50+ workers receiving training grants through the public workforce system using the Department of Labor’s Participant Individual Record Layout dataset. This project focuses specifically on the relationship between an older worker’s field of training and the probability of completing a credential, the probability of finding a job after completion, and post-completion earnings.
The Return-on-Investment for Manufacturing Credentials
In collaboration with Workcred and with grant support from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Dr. Albert is preparing to conduct qualitative research with a sample of manufacturing employers across the United States to understand how they use and value non-degree credentials. His research will help US manufacturers improve the use of credentials in their hiring practices and identify opportunities to create new credentials for individuals seeking employment in the manufacturing sector.
Understanding the Landscape of Industry Certifications
In a collaborative research project led by the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, Dr. Albert is exploring how various stakeholders (including certification bodies themselves) understand the quality and value of industry certifications. This project will involve in-depth original research on three selected industries and a review of the literature on certification quality and value in other fields.
“Who Supports Professional Certification? Insights from Employment Arbitration.” Equal author, with Mark Gough. Forthcoming in the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
“Occupational Licensure and Entrepreneurs: The Case of Tax Preparers in the United States” Equal author, with Roman Galperin and Aleksandra Kacperczyk. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Volume 72, Issue 5, October 2019, pp. 1065-1093.
“Green for All? Gender Segregation in Green Fields of Study” Equal author, with Dafna Gelbgiser. Social Problems, Volume 65, Issue 4, November 2018, pp. 564–583.
“The Certification Earnings Premium: An Examination of Young Workers.” Social Science Research, Volume 63, March 2017, pp. 138-149.