Overqualification is defined as a situation in which an employee has a surplus of education, experience, and/or skills relative to the job he or she holds (e.g., Feldman, 1996). In other words, when employees are overqualified for their current position, their educational, experience-, and/or skill-related capacities and resources are underutilized. In fact, current statistics reveal that overqualification is a pervasive issue, affecting around 15-20% of the workforce in Switzerland (Bundesamt für Statistik, 2011); similar numbers can be found in other industrialized countries (e.g., 19 to 34% in the EU-27, Eurostat, 2011, around 20% in the U.S., Vaisey, 2006). As such, it comes as no surprise that researchers have become increasingly interested in overqualification and its correlates (e.g., Erdogan, Bauer, Peiró, & Truxillo, 2011). Generally, the extant research has framed overqualification within the light of stress theories, arguing that overqualification constitutes a stressor that is related to a number of detrimental outcomes (e.g., Luksyte, Spitzmüller, & Maynard, 2011). Indeed, a recent meta-analysis (Maynard & Feldman, 2012) demonstrated that overqualification is related to reduced favorable job attitudes and well-being, less favorable career outcomes, and an increased number of withdrawal behaviors.
The current proposal will approach the topic of overqualification from a different angle, namely a resource-oriented perspective (cf. Hobfoll, 1989). Although previous research in line with the stressor perspective has served to increase our knowledge and understanding of the construct, this proposal seeks to demonstrate that there is also a bright side to overqualification. Based on various theoretical concepts, we will develop conceptual arguments that also demonstrate beneficial effects of overqualification. Moreover, this proposed research will attempt to unravel the mechanisms by which overqualified employees can be encouraged to invest their surplus resources in ways that are advantageous for both organizations and individuals. We will test these propositions in three studies with different methodological approaches (i.e., multi-source, diary/measure-intensive, and longitudinal studies). Moreover, we will apply both a subjective and an objective measure of overqualification, thereby uniting approaches stemming from the different fields of organizational psychology and economics (cf. Erdogan et al., 2011).
Based on the notion that certain work characteristics can exert opposing effects (e.g., N. P. Podsakoff, LePine, & LePine, 2007), the goal of Study 1 is to show that being overqualified can simultaneously foster and decrease favorable job attitudes and well-being. Organizational re-entry after maternity leave provides a suitable context to test these propositions. Moreover, the study seeks to demonstrate that the relative size of each of the opposing relationships is affected by a third variable, namely the mother’s degree of role adaptation. Based on the match principle (e.g., de Jonge & Dormann, 2006), the goal of Study 2 is to show that overqualification can exert a buffering effect on daily stress processes. In particular, the study seeks to demonstrate that overqualification mitigates the relationship between daily task-related stressors and their daily outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction, irritation, work engagement, and heart rate variability) as opposed to social and role stressors. Moreover, the goal of Study 3 is to demonstrate that impaired job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and commitment) explain why overqualification negatively affects favorable work behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, proactivity, and work engagement). Finally, based on social exchange theory (e.g., Blau, 1964), the study seeks to identify boundary conditions that alleviate these negative relationships.
The current proposal will make an important contribution to the literature on overqualification, as it will enrich previous thinking in the field by using a resource-oriented perspective. Recently, Erdogan et al. (2011) noted that there might be situations in which being overqualified can be a benefit and that overqualified employees can be an important asset for organizations. Hence, our proposed research will provide the first empirical test of this notion. From a practical perspective, the proposal will provide guidance for practitioners concerning crucial external circumstances for overqualification and its outcomes, and which boundary conditions can make overqualified employees invest their surplus resources in a beneficial way.
