---

Underemployment is a challenge faced by all industrialized nations and their organizations and individuals. This book synthesizes the current understanding of the phenomenon by bringing together scholars with diverse perspectives and expertise.

---

Underemployment - when people are employed in some way that is insufficient, such as being overqualified or working part-time when one desires full-time employment - is a challenge faced by all industrialized nations and their organizations and individuals. Just like unemployment, some level of underemployment exists even in the best of times, but it becomes more pervasive when the job market is weak. Given the current economic climate in North America and abroad, researchers and scholars in various disciplines (psychology, business, sociology, economics) are becoming more interested in investigating the effects of underemployment and identifying possible practical solutions. Underemployment synthesizes the current understanding of the phenomenon by bringing together scholars with diverse perspectives and expertise with the aim of informing and guiding the next generation of underemployment research.

---

Introduction.-I. Approaches to Studying Underemployment.-Theoretical Perspectives in Underemployment.-Measurement Issues in Underemployment Research.-II. The Antecedents of Underemployment.-Demographic Risk Factors for Underemployment.-Psychological Contract Breach and Underemployment.-Underemployment and the Trend Toward Nonstandard Work Arrangements.-Global and Cross-Cultural Issues in Underemployment.-III. The Effects of Underemployment.-The Impact of Underemployment on Job Attitudes and Withdrawal Behavior.-The Impact of Underemployment on Employee Behavior: Performance, Citizenship, and Counterproductive Behavior.-The Physical and Psychological Health Effects of Underemployment.-Underemployment and Organizational Effectiveness.-Underemployment and the Impact on the Broader Community.-IV. Future Directions.-Individual Responses to Underemployment.-Organizational and Governmental Responses to Underemployment.-New Frontiers in Underemployment Research

---

From the reviews:

"As this volume reveals, underutilized skills, too little pay, and too few work hours take their toll on financial, social, and emotional well-being. Editors Maynard (SUNY, New Paltz) and Feldman (Univ. of Georgia) have compiled a set of multidisciplinary articles on the topic of underemployment, authored by international scholars. ... This volume is the most comprehensive work on this important subject. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Business managers, business and social science professors, and upper-division undergraduate and graduate students." (G. E. Kaupins, Choice, Vol. 49 (4), December, 2011)

Underemployment was chosen as one of Choice Magazine´s Outstanding Academic Titles of 2011, along with six other Springer titles. "Every year, Choice subject editors single out for recognition the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in Choice during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in Choice ´s January issue, this prestigious list of publications reflects the best in scholarly titles and attracts extraordinary attention from the academic library community. The 2011 feature includes 629 titles in 54 disciplines and subsections." ( Outstanding Academic Titles, 2011 . Choice , v.49, no. 05, January 2012.)

---