Don and Cal are high school friends from the same hometown. After high school, Don started to work full-time as an overnight cle
aner at a floor cleaning business. Cal attended a public university nearby and earned a bachelor's degree in marketing. At their 10-year reunion Don and Cal discuss the courses their lives have taken since they graduated from high school. Don has been working full-time for the whole 10 years and makes about $40,000 per year from the cleaning business. Cal has been working for 5 years as manager of the marketing department at a health insurance company in the area; he makes about $70,000 per year. What concept would a sociologist use to describe the differences between Don and Cal?
The college wage premium is the difference between the average earnings those earned by individuals with a college degree but is not a graduate and the one who did not attend college and do not have a college degree.
In the context, Don and Cal are both friends. After their school, Don joined to work in an organization while Cal attended university and earned a college degree and then he joined an insurance company. Don earned 40,000 dollar in a year in his 10 years of work while Cal earned 70,000 dollar in one year after working for 5 years. This difference is due o the college wage premium which states that a college graduate degree would earn you more wage than a non graduate degree.
