Seong Ji Jeong

Seong Ji Jeong, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Workforce Education and Development (WFED) in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems in the College of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. Her scholarly focus centers on understanding how education and training can unlock human potential in a rigid labor market structure, particularly for individuals navigating life transitions under vulnerable situations. Her research interests include school-to-work transitions, career transitions and trajectories, the aging workforce, and workplace development program and policies. Particularly, she is interested in investigating organizational and institutional measures to support individuals’ smooth career transition. In her research and teaching, she employs a variety of quantitative methods using large-scale survey datasets and state-wide administrative datasets. 

Her academic excellence can be found in high-impact peer-reviewed journals such as International Journal of Training and Development, Journal of Workplace Learning, Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, and Korean scholarly journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Labor Policy, Social Welfare Studies, and Career Education Research. She has presented in renowned academic conferences, including Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), American Education Research Association (AERA), Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), and Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). She serves on the editorial board of Career Technical Education Research and Journal of Career and Technical Education and the executive board in Korean American Lifelong Learning Education.

Dr. Jeong holds an M.Ed. and a Ph.D. with a major in vocational education and workforce development from Seoul National University, South Korea. Prior to joining the Penn State College of Education faculty, she was a postdoctoral scholar in the Ohio Education Research Center at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and a lecturer in the Quantitative Research, Evaluation and Measurement Program at the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University.

Areas of Expertise

• Career transitions and trajectories
• School-to-work transition
• Education-occupation mismatches
• Aging workforce and retirement
• Training and development
• Labor market outcomes
• Agricultural entrepreneurship
• Quantitative methods

Current/Recent Teaching 

• WFED 560 History and Philosophy of Workforce Education and Development
• WFED 540 Data analysis in Workforce Education and Development
• WFED 471 Training in Business and Industry

Recent Selected Publications 

1. Jeong, S. J. (2026). Mitigating wage penalties from education–occupation mismatches through workplace learning among manufacturing workers. Journal of Workplace Learning, 38(9), 40–68. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-03-2025-0060
2. Jeong, S. J. (2026). Quality of Employment of High School Graduates: Focusing on the Effect of Student Vocational Education and Training Experience. International Journal of Training and Development, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijtd.70024
3. Jeong, S. J. (2025). Advancing Secondary Vocational Education System: A Case Study of Korea’s Meister High School. In E. Smeplass & C. Zirkle (Eds.), Opportunity Structures in Vocational Education and Training: National Studies and International Discussions (pp. 97–125). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-04410-5_5
4. Jeong, S. J., Choi, S. J., & Hawley, J. D. (2024). How can urban middle-aged participants increase their agricultural entrepreneurship volition during COVID-19? Evidence from South Korea. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 30(1), 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/1389224X.2022.2153886 
5. Jeong, S. J., Choi, S. J., & Hawley, J. (2023). Mid-Aged Adults’ Career Trajectories and Late-Life Financial Security: A Sequence Analysis Approach. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. https://doi.org/10.1332/175795921X16843342371110
6. Jeong, S. J. & Ha, J. (2023). Unraveling the Relationship of the Main Job Retirement Events of Aged Adults and Work-abilities. Quarterly Journal of Labor Policy, 23(3), 67-93.  http://doi.org/10.22914/jlp.2023.23.3.003 (Korean)
7. Jeong, S. J. (2022). Identification and Exploration of Agricultural Entrepreneurship Preparation Patterns using Latent Class Analysis. Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development, 29(2), 111-129. http://doi.org/10.12653/jecd.2022.29.2.0111 (Korean)
8. Jeong, S. J. & Choi, S. J. (2022). Measuring Agricultural Entrepreneurship: Instrument Development and Validation.  Journal of Agricultural Education and Human Resource Development. 54(1). 1-26. http://doi.org/10.23840/agehrd.2022.54.1.1 (Korean)
9. Jeong, S. J., Ha, J. Y., & Kim, G. H. (2021). Analysis of the Relationship Between Farmers’ Performance and Satisfaction with Farming Education, Achievement of Farming Education, and Field Application by Applying Double-mediated Analysis. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Human Resource Development, 53(3), 77-100. http://doi.org/10.23840/agehrd.2021.53.3.77 (Korean)
10. Park, B. & Jeong, S. J. (2021). A Study on Activation of Online Youth Public Employment Service Using Digital Nudging Strategy. The Journal of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction, 21(15), 19-37. (Korean)
11. Jeong, S. J. & Choi, S. J. (2021). An Analysis of the Progressive Retirement Process of Middle-aged Men: Focusing on the Period of Retirement and Job Stability. The Journal of Vocational Education Research, 40(2), 71-94. https://doi.org/10.37210/JVER.2021.40.2.71 (Korean)
12. Jeong, S. J. & Ma, S. J. (2021). What Determines the Rural In-migrants’ Adaptation to Rural Communities? Focusing on Motivation for Rural In-migration and Job Satisfaction. Journal of Agricultural Education and Human Resource Development,53(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.23840/agehrd.2021.53.1.1 (Korean)

Recent Selected Presentations and Papers

1. Jeong, S. J., Fuller, E., & Threeton, M. (2025). Will They Stay or Leave? Survival Analysis of Beginning CTE Teacher Attrition in Pennsylvania Schools. 2025 CTE Research and Professional Development Conference, December 9, Nashville, Tennessee, US https://easychair.org/proceedings/paper?a=35795748&paper=731513
2. Jeong, S. J., & Im, S. (2025). Identifying patterns of self-perceived employability among mid-aged adults: Linking with their employment service needs. 2025 American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Conference, October 3, Cincinnati, Ohio, US
3. Jeong, S. J. (2024) The Education-Job Mismatch and Wage Penalties Focusing on the Manufacturing Workforce. 2024 Association of Career and Technical Education Conference. December 2-3, San Antonio, Texas, US. https://easychair.org/smart-slide/slide/BnJT#
4. Lou. T., Jeong, S. J. Hawley, J., Barto. C. (2024). Evaluating Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee Program with a Regression Discontinuity Design. 2024 Association of Public Policy and Management Fall Research Conference, National Harbor, Maryland, Nov 21-23, 2024.
5. Fuller, E., Jeong. S. J., Threeton, M. (2024). Teacher Quality, Attrition, and Turnover in Pennsylvania Career and Technical Centers. Conference on Integrated Learning: The School-to-Career Connection. Nov 6-8, State College, Pennsylvania, US.
6. Jeong, S. J. (2024). Cross-national Variation in the Effect of Education-Job Mismatch on Earnings: Educational and Labor Market Institutions. 2024 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, April 11-14, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. https://doi.org/10.3102/IP.24.2102842. 
7. Jeong, S. J. (2024). The Moderating Effect of Workplace Learning on the Relationship Between Field-of-Study Mismatch and Workforce Outcomes.The 68th Comparative and International Education Society Annual Conference. March 11, Miami, Florida, US. Click here for slides
8. Jeong, S. J. (2024). Alleviating Wage Penalties on Education-Job Mismatch: The Educational Institution Perspective. The 38th Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum. March 1, Columbus, Ohio, US. (1st winner)
9. Jeong, S. J. (2024). Alleviating the Wage Penalty for Horizontal Mismatch: Focusing on Formal and Informal Workplace Learning. 2024 Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) International Research Conference. February 21-24, Virginia, US. Click here for slides

10. Jeong, S. J., Hawley, J. (2023). Exploring the Relationship Between CTE Interventions and Employment: Does Vocational Education Lead to Decent Work? 2023 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, US, April 13-16, 2023. http://doi.org/10.3102/IP.23.2006007.

     

Under Review or Working-in-Progress

• Jeong, S. J., Fuller, E., & Threeton, M. Unraveling Beginning Secondary CTE Teacher Turnover in Pennsylvania Schools Using Survival Analysis (Under Review)
• Jeong, S. J., Lou, T., Caroline, B., Ruhil, A., & Hawley, J. Evaluating Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee Before Its Repeal: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis (Under Review)
• Xing, S., Park, M., & Jeong, S. J., Internship Experience of Marginalized Students in IT on Career and Culture Capital Accumulation (Work in Progress)
• Jeong, S. J. & Lou, T. Exploring School-to-Work Transitions among Ohio College Students. (Work in Progress)

Research Programs

Dr. Jeong’s research programs center around four primary avenues of inquiry:

1. Mitigating Wage Penalties Associated with Education-Occupation Mismatches

Jeong’s research explores strategies to mitigate the negative effects of education–occupation mismatches through organizational and institutional support. While much of the existing literature focuses on the consequences of these mismatches, her research shifts the focus toward practical solutions, emphasizing workplace learning as a key mitigating mechanism. Using international datasets, her work, published in the Journal of Workplace Learning, demonstrates that workplace learning and skill utilization can effectively reduce wage penalties associated with field-of-study mismatches.

Expanding on this perspective, another research project funded by SSRI faculty fellowship examines how cross-national variation of the education systems and labor market institutions influence mismatch-related wage penalties. The pilot study findings, presented in AERA annual meeting, indicate that countries with stronger vocational education systems and active labor market programs experience significantly lower wage penalties for mismatched workers. These insights underscore the importance of enhancing vocational education in schools and strengthening public-sector workforce development programs, particularly to support temporary workers, women, and immigrants—groups that are disproportionately affected by mismatches

2. School-to-Work Transition: Career and Technical Education and Pathways to Decent Work

Jeong’s research, published in the International Journal of Training and Development, also focuses on career and technical education (CTE) systems and practices that facilitate students’ transition into the workforce. Using the International Labor Organization’s concept of “decent work,” her study examines how vocational education strategies influence the career pathways of vocational high school graduates. By analyzing patterns of workforce entry and job quality, this research provides evidence-based insights into the vocational education strategies that most effectively support students across various career clusters in achieving stable and fulfilling employment.

3. Beginning Teacher Turnover in Career and Technical Education

Jeong, Fuller, and Threeton’s research examines how teacher- and school-level characteristics influence the risks of leaving the schools where beginning secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers were initially hired in Pennsylvania. Using administrative data on 2,595 beginning secondary CTE teachers, we employed survival analysis to identify factors associated with early attrition from the schools where they began their careers. Findings reveal that Black teachers, those with lower levels of education, and part-time teachers were more likely to leave their initial schools compared to their counterparts. Additionally, teachers employed in Career and Technical Centers (CTCs) faced a higher risk of exiting than those in comprehensive high schools. Our findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions and school-level supports to improve retention among beginning CTE teachers.

4. Smoothing Work to Retirement Transition of the Aging workforce

Jeong, Hawley, and Choi’s research focuses on understanding and improving career transition processes and outcomes for marginalized populations, particularly in extending the employment of an aging workforce. For older adults, re-employment is often driven by insufficient pension benefits and financial uncertainty, particularly following involuntary retirement. Our empirical study identifies six career trajectory patterns of aged workers in Seoul over nearly five decades and highlights that aligning jobs for reemployment with individuals’ prior career histories was key to increasing the probability of following stable career patterns and sustaining financial stability.

Jeong’s research on aged adults’ career transition has extended to a specific context: agricultural entrepreneurship. Her doctoral work investigated the learning experiences for urban-aged individuals who pursued agricultural entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that their limited digital literacy made it challenging to enhance agricultural entrepreneurship volition in a sudden shift to online learning. This study advances our understanding of psychological and behavioral processes involved in older adults’ career transitions to agricultural entrepreneurship.