<p>I think I pretty well qualify as overeducated for everything I do and I think that I am over qualified because things changed around me and this made if very difficult for me to continue being employed at my level in my field. I do not think that my extra education causes stress, but since I took early retirement I found that the little jobs that I pick up here and there have been getting less respectful and I feel more and more that by taking them all I am doing is taking the away the chance for advancement of some young researcher. So I am trying to find something more suited to me, where I can be useful. Right now I believe my volunteer work is more important than my paid work. </p>
<p>I look around me in my community and a lot of the people I see who fit into the category of doing work they are overqualified for are often doing so because of personal choices. When I was young I accepted leaving a very good position because I was trying to stay married, I accepted a lower level job, for a bit, because I was trying to do the right thing. In hind sight it was a mistake, but I made the choice for the right reasons. I now have a disabled child and I see a lot of folks who accept a position that is not what they want because it provides a type of security that they need for their child. I think that a lot of people who are overqualified for their jobs are likely stressed, but it may not be the degree, but the circumstances in their lives causing the problem.</p>