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on Gender |
| By: | Kessel, Dany; Mollerstrom, Johanna; van Veldhuizen, Roel |
| Abstract: | As a recent literature has demonstrated, men and women differ in their willingness to sort into competitive environments. In particular, men are more willing than women to compete. We investigate whether it is possible to reduce the gender gap in willingness to compete through an information intervention that informs participants of the gap and advises them about the potential earnings implications. We find that this simple information intervention reduced the gender gap, both in a laboratory study at a German university and in a field study with Swedish high school students. Whereas some participants (primarily high performing women) benefited from the intervention, others lost out. We discuss the implications for efficiency and policy. |
| Keywords: | Gender Differences,Competitiveness,Advice,Experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D91 J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:spii2021202&r= |
| By: | Speer, Jamin D. (University of Memphis) |
| Abstract: | More than two-thirds of STEM jobs are held by men. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the STEM pipeline from high school to mid-career in the United States, decomposing the gender gap in STEM into six stages. By far the most important stages are the initial college major choice and the college-to-career transition. Men are far more likely than women to start in a STEM major, especially among those who are the most prepared for STEM upon entry. This alone accounts for 57% of the total gender gap in STEM careers. After college, male STEM graduates are far more likely to be found in a STEM job, accounting for 44% of the overall gap. Women who start in STEM majors are also less likely to graduate in STEM (accounting for 16%), while the gap in pre-college STEM-readiness is a small factor (8%). Women attend college at much higher rates than men, which works to reduce the final gender gap in STEM (-14%). The pipeline to STEM jobs is complex, and focusing only on the college experience or only on the labor market misses a large part of the overall story of women in STEM. |
| Keywords: | STEM, gender gaps, college major |
| JEL: | J01 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14676&r= |
| By: | Islam, Asad (Monash University); Pakrashi, Debayan (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur); Sahoo, Soubhagya (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur); Wang, Liang Choon (Monash University); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Using a field experiment in India where patients are randomly assigned to rank among a set of physicians of the same gender but with different castes and years of experience, we show that the differences in patients' physician choices are consistent with gender-based statistical discrimination. Labor market experience cannot easily overcome the discrimination that female doctors suffer. Further, we find that gender discrimination is greater for lower caste doctors, who typically suffer from caste discrimination. Given the increasing share of professionals from a lower caste background, our results suggest that the 'intersectionality' between gender and caste leads to increased gender inequality among professionals in India. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination, statistical discrimination, caste discrimination, intersectionality, affirmative action |
| JEL: | J16 J15 I15 O12 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14713&r= |
| By: | Löwe, Monique (University of Hagen); Rinne, Ulf (IZA); Sonnabend, Hendrik (Fern Universität Hagen) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the link between the subject choices of German students in upper secondary school and teacher gender when these choices are taken. Our results corroborate the hypothesis that teacher gender matters in this regard, and they indicate that girls respond more strongly than boys to same-sex role models. While the probability to choose German as an advanced course in upper secondary school increases to a rather similar (i.e., symmetric) extent for both girls and boys when having a same-sex teacher in this subject in grade 10, teacher gender matters only for girls with respect to choosing math on the advanced level. |
| Keywords: | gender, education, STEM, subject choices |
| JEL: | I21 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14666&r= |
| By: | So Yoon Ahn (University of Illinois at Chicago); Youjin Hahn (Yonsei University); Semee Yoon (Yonsei University) |
| Abstract: | We study how educational opportunities change adolescents' gender attitudes in Tanzania, using an experiential education program focused on STEM subjects. After the intervention, girls' gender attitudes became more progressive by 0.29 standard deviations, but boys' gender attitudes did not change. Perceived improvement in the labor market opportunities appears to be an important channel to explain the result. The intervention also increased girls' weekly study hours and boosted their interests in STEM-related subjects and occupations. Our results show that providing STEM-related educational opportunities to girls in developing countries can be an effective way of improving their gender attitudes. |
| Keywords: | STEM, labor market outcomes, developing countries |
| JEL: | I25 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-046&r= |
| By: | Fukai, Taiyo (University of Tokyo); Ikeda, Masato (University of Tokyo); Kawaguchi, Daiji (University of Tokyo); Yamaguchi, Shintaro (University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected female employment in Japan. Our estimates indicate that the employment rate of married women with children decreased by 4 percentage points, while that of those without children decreased by only 1 percentage point, implying that increased childcare responsibilities caused a sharp decline in mothers' employment. Further, mothers who left or lost their jobs appear to have dropped out of the labor force even several months after school reopening. In contrast to women, the employment rate of married men with children was not affected, which hindered progress in narrowing the employment gender gap. |
| Keywords: | labor force participation, employment, gender gap, COVID-19, childcare |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14711&r= |
| By: | Lamprea-Barragan, T. C; García- Suaza, A. F. |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to quantify at which extent industry and occupation characteristics explain the gender pay gap in Colombia. To quantify the role of these factors we perform counterfactual decomposition methods that allow to split the total gap into the contribution of the gender share of employment at the industry level, the demographic composition and the characteristics pay premia. This is possible by adapting the classical Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to a two-step procedure, which is illustrated through Monte Carlo simulations. Using Colombian data for 2019 and exploiting the heterogeneity at the industry and the occupation level, findings suggest that the three components shape the gender pay gap. While differences in returns are the main force driver of the existing gap, the gender employment share, and the composition of workers across industries and occupations provide mixed results. |
| Keywords: | Gender pay gap; decomposition methods, sorting. |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:019437&r= |
| By: | Simon Rabaté (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Externe auteur: Sara Rellstab (Universit a della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Having children can result in large earnings penalties for mothers. Using extensive administrative data from the Netherlands, we assess the magnitude and drivers of the effects of first childbirth on parents' earnings trajectories in the Netherlands. We show that mothers' earnings are 46% lower compared to their pre-birth earnings trajectory, whereas fathers' earnings are unaffected by child birth. We examine the role of two potential determinants of the unequal distribution of parents' labour market costs by gender: childcare policies and gender norms. We find that while child care availability is correlated with lower child penalty, the immediate short-term causal effect of increasing child care availability on the earnings penalty of becoming a mother is small. By taking advantage of variation in gender norms in different population groups, we show that gender norms are strongly correlated with child penalty for mothers. Having children can result in large earnings penalties for mothers. Using extensive administrative data from the Netherlands, we assess the magnitude and drivers of the effects of first childbirth on parents' earnings trajectories in the Netherlands. We show that mothers' earnings are 46% lower compared to their pre-birth earnings trajectory, whereas fathers' earnings are unaffected by child birth. We examine the role of two potential determinants of the unequal distribution of parents' labour market costs by gender: childcare policies and gender norms. We find that while child care availability is correlated with lower child penalty, the immediate short-term causal effect of increasing child care availability on the earnings penalty of becoming a mother is small. By taking advantage of variation in gender norms in different population groups, we show that gender norms are strongly correlated with child penalty for mothers. |
| JEL: | I26 I32 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:424&r= |
| By: | Mendolia, Silvia (University of Wollongong); Suziedelyte, Agne (University of London); Zhu, Anna (RMIT University) |
| Abstract: | Using data from the UK, we show that girls have been affected more than boys by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of their mental wellbeing. These gender differences are more pronounced in lower-income families. Our results are consistent with previous findings of larger pandemic effects on mental health of women. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, pandemic, mental health, children |
| JEL: | I10 I31 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14665&r= |
| By: | Pilar Beneito (University of Valencia and ERI-CES); María E. Rochina Barrachina (University of Valencia and ERI-CES); Amparo Sanchis (University of Valencia and ERI-CES) |
| Abstract: | Innovative firms use patents to signal the quality of their R&D teams in evaluation processes affected by asymmetric information. Examples of these processes occur when applying for finance from external sources or when searching for collaboration partners for innovation projects. In this paper we provide evidence that, in these cases, firms' external agents undervalue patents of female R&D teams as compared to patents of male R&D teams. We investigate this issue using data of Spanish innovating firms from PITEC, spanning 2005-2014, a panel database that follows the structure of the European Community Innovation Surveys (CIS). We interpret our results as consistent with an evaluation bias against female researchers, making them to be subject to a greater scrutiny as compared to their male counterparts, and thereby suggesting the existence of gender discrimination in R&D. |
| Keywords: | female R&D teams, patents, asymmetric information, quality signals |
| JEL: | O30 O34 C20 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2110&r= |
| By: | Theresa M. Greaney (Department of Economics, University of Hawai`i); Ayumu Tanaka (College of Economics, Aoyama Gakuin University, and Research Associate, The Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)) |
| Abstract: | We explore potential relationships between international economic activities and gender wage gaps (GWGs) using linked employer-employee data for Japan. We find evidence that exporting and multinational activities are associated with reduced GWGs. Domestic-owned firms that neither export nor invest abroad (i.e., domestic-only firms) report the largest GWG, followed by Japanese-owned multinational enterprises(JMNE), then by locally-owned exporters that do not invest abroad and finally by foreign-owned multinational enterprises (FMNE). We separate FMNE by mode of entry and confirm that FMNE established by greenfield investment deviate more than FMNE established by merger and acquisition from domestic-only firms in terms of wages. Greenfield- born FMNE are associated with the smallest GWG and largest gender- neutral wage premium among the firm types. The estimated GWG among Greenfield-born FMNE is almost 12 percentage-points lower than the 26.8 percent prevailing at domestic-only firms. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; wage premium; exporters; multinational enterprises |
| JEL: | F14 F16 J31 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:202102&r= |
| By: | Kyeongkuk Kim (Ministry of Finance, South Korea); Sang-Hyop Lee (University of Hawaii at Manoa); Timothy J. Halliday (University of Hawai‘i) |
| Abstract: | We consider the effects of a paid childcare leave subsidy on maternal behavior in South Korea. We employ both difference-in-difference and regression kink techniques. The subsidies had very large behavioral effects. Regression kink estimates indicate that an extra dollar of the monthly subsidy (on annual basis) increased conceptions by 0.06-0.08 percentage points. Difference-in-difference estimates indicate that paid leave subsidies also increased permanent working arrangements by ten percentage points for lower earning women and four percentage points for higher earning women. In a country with the lowest total fertility rate in the world and that often performs middling in rankings of gender inequality, we conclude that paid childcare leave for working women confers positive benefits. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational health mobility; mental health; physical health; United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J18 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:202104&r= |