Chapter 8: Degrees of Incarceration: Navigating Barriers to Employment

In the United States, 70 million adults possess a criminal history. The majority will return or remain in the community, allowing them—often mandating them—to seek employment. Yet because criminal history is among the most detrimental stigmas in the employment process, this population has limited options. Among the strategies that can assist individuals in lowering their perceived stigma during the employment process, the attainment of higher education is less understood. To gain further understanding, we conducted 21 interviews with men and women who were recently released from incarceration, seeking paid employment, and had completed or were pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. With regard to managing the effects of stigma related to justice-involvement, we find that completion of a higher education degree provides formerly incarcerated individuals with (1) awareness of structural barriers that increase visibility of a criminal history, (2) confidence to disclose one’s criminal history, (3) disposition to pursue a true-to-self provisional strategy, and (4) readiness to pursue a highly skilled occupation.