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on Gender |
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Issue of 2025–08–11
seven papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Albanesi, Stefania; Da Silva, António Dias; Jimeno, Juan F.; Lamo, Ana; Wabitsch, Alena |
| Abstract: | We examine the link between the diffusion of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled technologies and changes in the female employment share in 16 European countries over the period 2011-2019. Using data for occupations at the 3-digit level, we find that on average female employment shares increased in occupations more exposed to AI. Countries with high initial female labor force participation and higher initial female relative education show a stronger positive association. While there exists heterogeneity across countries, almost all show a positive relation between changes in female employment shares within occupations and exposure to AI-enabled automation. JEL Classification: J23, O33 |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, employment, gender, occupations, skills |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253077 |
| By: | Cagatay Bircan (UCL); Guido Friebel (Goethe-University Frankfurt); Tristan Stahl (Goethe-University Frankfurt) |
| Abstract: | Using rich data on personnel records, work assignments, and performance in a financial institution, we uncover the mechanisms leading to promotion gaps in knowledge teamwork. We find a substantial promotion gap for women in early career stages. Analyzing over 10, 000 investment projects reveals that assignments to project team leaderships (a “promotable†task) are crucial in explaining the gaps in promotions and affect long-term careers. We find causal evidence that male supervisors favor male bankers, while women benefit from female supervisors. A survey among employees indicates that women perceive to be disadvantaged in the assignments of tasks, but they do not differ in aspirations and demand for these roles. When a new CEO entered the firm, much of the gap disappears. |
| Keywords: | Careers; gender gaps; visibility; leadership; internal labor market |
| JEL: | M51 J16 D22 J44 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2518 |
| By: | Alon, Titan (University of California San Diego); Coskun, Sena (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany); Olmstead-Rumsey, Jane (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | "The past half century has witnessed widespread gender convergence across many labor market outcomes, including hours worked, earnings, and occupations. However, this paper shows that, over the same period, men’s and women’s sectors of employment actually diverged. We decompose the rise in sectoral segregation into three drivers representing changes in preferences, discrimination, and technologies. Changes in the employment preferences of married women are the most important factor, explaining 59% of the rise in segregation. These changes in preferences also reduce the gender earnings gap because the non-wage amenities women value are increasingly prevalent in higher paying sectors." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | E20 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202511 |
| By: | Xiaoyue Shan; Ulf Zoelitz; Uschi Backes-Gellner |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of online instruction with a field experiment that randomly assigns 1, 344 university students to different proportions of online and in-person lectures in multiple introductory courses. Increased online instruction leaves men's exam performance unaffected but significantly lowers women's performance, particularly in math-intensive courses. Online instruction also reduces women's longer-run performance and increases their study dropout. Exploring mechanisms, we find that women exposed to more online lectures report greater difficulty in connecting with peers, less engaging instructors, and lower course satisfaction. Our findings suggest that shifting toward more online instruction may disproportionally harm women. |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0245 |
| By: | Enrico Rubolino; Enrico Rubolino |
| Abstract: | Unpaid domestic work continues to fall largely on women, despite their growing presence in the workforce. This paper asks whether policies changing the relative bargaining position of spouses can disrupt this pattern. I use the introduction of a bachelor tax in fascist Italy to show that altering men’s incentives to marry shaped the allocation of domestic work. Men in tax-induced marriages took on more domestic work, while their wives gained time, agency, and better economic outcomes. Effects are long-lasting and transmitted across generations: women raised in households with more equitable labor divisions also perform less housework. The findings suggest shocks in bargaining power can loosen the hold of social norms and reconfigure domestic life. |
| Keywords: | domestic work, female labor force participation, intra-household bargaining, bachelor tax, marriage market, gender-based taxation |
| JEL: | J22 J16 J12 H31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11998 |
| By: | Brixiova Schwidrowski, Zuzana (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)); Elbeshbishi, Amal Nagah (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)); Zhao, Jiaxin (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)) |
| Abstract: | Skills gaps, a lack of funding, and social norms continue to keep women and youth in North Africa from engaging in productive entrepreneurship. Using cross-national data and regional indicators from the World Bank and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, this analysis shows how such barriers reinforce each other, leading to the structural exclusion of women and youth. For example, only 1.2% of Egyptian women are business owners, and young people in Tunisia have a significantly lower chance than adults of obtaining business loans. The report estimates that if gender gaps in networks and skills are addressed, up to 7 million more female entrepreneurs could be established in North Africa. Progress requires targeted education, the use of inclusive finance tools, and shifts in public opinion. When supported by policies, the entrepreneurship of women and young people can boost resilience and create job-rich growth. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, North Africa, gender and youth economic empowerment, financial inclusion, skills development, social norms |
| JEL: | L26 J16 J18 O17 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp217 |
| By: | Maria Ponkilainen (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Elina Einiö (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Martin Kolk (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Peter Fallesen; Fartein Ask Torvik; Maria Lyster Andersen; Mikko Myrskylä (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland were among the first countries to acknowledge same-sex couples' partnership and parenthood rights in their legislations. In this comparative paper, we explore trends over time in the share of female same-sex and different-sex couples that have children following their legal union and variation by socioeconomic status. Using harmonized register data, we assess couples' likelihood of having a child over time, with a focus on education and income. We find strong increases in female couples' likelihood of having a child, resulting in sharply increasing prevalence, approaching near parity with different-sex couples in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway around 2010. Finland diverges from the other countries in terms of its later and less steep increase. Higher education is associated with a higher likelihood of having a child, whereas we find a less clear gradient by income level. We suggest that legal changes have made same-sex parenthood more achievable in the Nordic countries, that these legal changes are concurrent with an increase in parenthood, and that female couples today are nearly as likely to have children following a legal union as different-sex couples. |
| Keywords: | Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, childbearing, homosexuality, legislation, parenthood |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2025-023 |