How broadly does education contribute to job performance?

Abstract

The current study looks at the effects of education level on job performance in three ways. First, it provides a meta-analysis on the relationships between education level and ten dimensions of in-role and extra-role job performance. Results here show that, in addition to positively influencing core task performance, education level is also positively related to creativity and citizenship behaviors and negatively related to on-the-job substance use and absenteeism. Second, we investigate the moderating effects of sample and research design characteristics on the relationships between education and job performance. Significant results were found for gender, year of study, age dispersion of sample, and percentage of managers in the sample, among others. Third, we utilize meta-analytical structural equation modeling (Viswesvaran & Ones, 1995) to test for the mediating effects that might explain the positive relationship between education and job performance. Results here showed that the effects of education on both task performance and contextual performance were significantly mediated by employees� cognitive abilities and conscientiousness. The article concludes with implications for future research and the management of an increasingly educated workforce.