A significant share of employees in Europe has less formal training than is required by their job; they are undereducated. We use harmonized panel data from the United Kingdom and Germany to investigate the skills and resources allowing the undereducated to develop careers in occupations supposedly beyond their reach. Our theoretical approach complements individual-centered labor market theory with an intergenerational mobility perspective which regards undereducation as a form of family status maintenance. Our empirical results show that persons whose (non-)cognitive skills exceed their formal education are more likely to be undereducated in the cross-section, and to enter undereducated employment or be promoted into it throughout the life course. Yet beyond individual merit, parental socio-economic status is a similarly-important predictor of these outcomes; our analyses even trace a significant share of the importance of (non-)cognitive skills to it. To complete our intergenerational argument, we finally demonstrate that undereducation acts as a pathway to the intergenerational reproduction of earnings inequality – more so, in fact, than the avoidance of overeducation. These results are remarkably similar across the UK and Germany, although some country differences suggest higher skill-induced career mobility in Britain and stronger origin effects in Germany. We discuss promising avenues for further comparative research in the conclusion.

欧洲有很大一部分雇员接受的正规培训少于其工作所需要的；他们教育不足。我们使用来自英国和德国的统一面板数据来调查技能和资源，使受教育程度较低的人在可能超出其职业范围的职业中发展职业。我们的理论方法以代际流动视角补充了以个人为中心的劳动力市场理论，该观点认为教育不足是维持家庭状况的一种形式。我们的经验结果表明，（非）认知能力超出其正规教育水平的人更有可能在横截面中受教育程度低，并在整个生命过程中进入受教育程度低的工作或被提升。然而，除了个人价值之外，父母的社会经济状况是这些结果的重要指标；我们的分析甚至可以追溯到（非）认知技能的重要性。为了完成我们的代际论证，我们最终证明，教育不足是导致代际收入不平等的一种途径-实际上，这比避免过度教育更为重要。在英国和德国，这些结果非常相似，尽管一些国家/地区的差异表明，英国由技能引起的职业流动性更高，而德国的原籍效应更强。结论中，我们讨论了有希望进行进一步比较研究的有希望的途径。我们最终证明，教育不足是导致代际收入不平等的途径-实际上，与避免过度教育相比，它更是如此。在英国和德国，这些结果非常相似，尽管一些国家/地区的差异表明，英国由技能引起的职业流动性更高，而德国的原籍效应更强。结论中，我们讨论了有希望进行进一步比较研究的有希望的途径。我们最终证明，教育不足是导致代际收入不平等的途径-实际上，与避免过度教育相比，它更是如此。在英国和德国，这些结果非常相似，尽管一些国家/地区的差异表明，英国由技能引起的职业流动性更高，而德国的原籍效应更强。结论中，我们讨论了有希望进行进一步比较研究的有希望的途径。