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on Gender |
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Issue of 2025–04–07
four papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Thea S. Zoellner |
| Abstract: | Although occupational choice research clearly shows the under-representation of women in mathematics- and science-related fields (STEM), the existing research mostly focuses on i) high-ability (university) students (rather than a wider spectrum of students) and ii) the choice between STEM or non-STEM fields (not specifically between mathematics and science). This study, in turn, investigates the gender gap in occupational choice by using data on the career choices of a wide spectrum of young Swiss students, who choose their work apprenticeships at age 15/16. Specifically, this study investigates whether students' gender is associated with differences in occupational requirements (mathematics, science, language) conditional on individual occupation preferences, skills, personality traits and socio-economic characteristics. The novel dataset links a representative student survey, administrative data on education trajectories and data on occupational skill requirements. While the results suggest only a very small gender gap in favour of men in occupations with higher science requirements (higher "science intensity"), the results suggest a statistically and economically significant gender gap in favour of men in occupations with higher mathematics requirements (higher "mathematics intensity") equivalent to a 12% wage reduction for women over the working life. The results suggest that the mathematics intensity of an occupation is associated with gender segregation both within STEM and non-STEM occupations. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice, gender gap, STEM, skill requirements |
| JEL: | J24 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0237 |
| By: | Inés Berniell (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP); Leonardo Gasparini (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET); Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET); Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of economic fluctuations on social norms, specifically exploring the link between changes in unemployment and shifts in attitudes toward gender roles in the labor market. The results are not immediately obvious, as the literature suggests several potential mechanisms with conflicting outcomes. Using microdata from the World Values Survey for a panel of 103 countries that cover close to 90% of the world population, we estimate individual-level probability models of agreement with traditional gender roles over the period 1995 to 2021, including country and year fixed effects. We find that an increase in unemployment is associated to more conservative views about gender roles in the labor market. This result is remarkably robust across different groups and specifications. We also find that some contextual factors matter. In particular, the link between higher unemployment and more conservative views on gender roles is stronger in countries with, on average, higher gender inequality and lower female labor force participation. Overall, this study contributes to a growing body of research on the complex relationship between economic conditions, gender norms, and social change. |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J22 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0346 |
| By: | Sofoklis Goulas (Economic Studies, Brookings Institution, USA, and IZA); Rigissa Megalokonomou (Department of Economics, Monash University, Australia, IZA, and CESifo); Panagiotis Sotirakopoulos (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University, Australia) |
| Abstract: | We examine teachers’ perceptions toward top performing students and their role model influence on others in an online survey-based experiment. We randomly expose teachers to profiles of top performing students and inquire whether they consider the profiled top performers to be influential role models. These profiles varied by gender and field of study (STEM or Non-STEM). Our findings show that teachers perceive top-performing girls as more influential peer role models compared to top-performing boys (βˆ = 0.289; p |
| Keywords: | teacher gender stereotypes, randomized controlled trial, peer role models, STEM |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J16 D83 C90 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2025-02 |
| By: | Antonio Cabrales (Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III Madrid); Lorenzo Ductor (Department of Economics Theory and History, Universidad de Granada); Ericka Rascon-Ramirez (Department of Economics, CIDE and Middlesex University London); Ismael Rodriguez-Lara (Department of Economics, Universidad de Malaga, and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | Women often find themselves in teams that hinder their productivity and earnings. We analyze the role of homophily and gender stereotypes in preferences for team formation and examine the effect of information on changing these preferences. We find that women are expected to perform better in female-type tasks (such as text and emotion-recognition). However, people prefer forming teams with their same gender. Our findings suggest that information can mitigate -but it does not eliminate- the influence of homophily on team formation. |
| Keywords: | gender differences, expectations, collaboration, network formation, team production |
| JEL: | C91 D03 D60 D81 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte648 |