|
on Gender |
|
Issue of 2026–04–27
six papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Ambar La Forgia; Manasvini Singh |
| Abstract: | We investigate how the gender mix of expert teams affects performance in a high-stakes setting: childbirth. Using data on 2.5 million births, we exploit the quasi-exogenous assignment of patients to two-member obstetrician teams (Lead–Assisting), and find that: (i) female-only teams achieve the best maternal outcomes, whereas male-only teams have the worst; and (ii) female-led mixed-gender teams perform worse than male-led ones. Specifically, severe maternal complications are 15.8% higher in male-only teams and 7.1-10.8% higher in mixed-gender teams compared to female-only teams. These patterns cannot be explained by patient risk, endogenous team formation, or physician preferences for discretionary practices like C-sections. Instead, gender mix directly affects team decisions and performance, likely through gender norms — a mechanism supported by two findings. First, gender mix affects how closely team decisions reflect member preferences, with female-only teams being especially skilled at this process, possibly due to more collaborative decision-making. Second, gender mix affects team resilience, with female-led mixed gender teams performing especially poorly under challenging conditions (e.g., limited team familiarity), possibly because female leaders invert traditional gender norms. We also document other notable patterns: female-only teams not only achieve the lowest complication rates for Black women, but are also the only team type to have no racial disparity in maternal outcomes. Overall, this study provides new insights into gender dynamics in expert teams, informing managerial efforts to support effective collaboration in increasingly diverse workplaces. |
| JEL: | D91 I1 J16 M54 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35084 |
| By: | Hecker, Britta (IAB and the University of Bamberg); Shure, Nikki (University College London); Yükselen Saif, Ipek (No longer in academia (formerly IAB and University of Bamberg)) |
| Abstract: | We examine how adolescents' domain-specific confidence shapes subsequent participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) study and vocational training, using longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of German secondary school students. We show that domain-specific confidence measures provide markedly different predictions from composite confidence indices: in line with established models from educational psychology, higher confidence in mathematics and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) increase the likelihood of entering STEM pathways, whereas higher confidence in reading decreases it. These opposing patterns are obscured when confidence is aggregated into a single measure. Our findings demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between domains when studying non-cognitive determinants of STEM choices and suggest that broad confidence-building interventions may unintentionally reinforce existing gender disparities in STEM participation. |
| Keywords: | confidence, STEM, education, gender |
| JEL: | I24 I23 D91 J24 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18535 |
| By: | Ortiz-Gervasi, Luis (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); McGuinness, Seamus (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Nussio, Benedetta (Università degli Studi di Trento) |
| Abstract: | This research improves our understanding of overeducation by highlighting its risks among middle-educated workers, especially the specific risk that motherhood may pose for job mismatch among them, compared to highly educated women. It employs random-effects and Heckman selection models with Mundlak correctors on 14 waves of the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS) to explore the relationship between overeducation, gender, and parenthood among middle- and highly educated employees. Overall, women are found to have a lower risk of overeducation compared to men. However, becoming a mother and having more children negatively impact the status of middle-educated women in comparison to both male workers and highly educated women. Additional evidence from the European Jobs and Skills Survey (2021) shows that jobs held by middle-educated individuals offer less job discretion than those held by highly educated workers. This lack of discretion may hinder the development of firm-specific or occupational skills that would enable women to maintain or enhance their job status after becoming mothers or having additional children. |
| Keywords: | overeducation, gender, level of education, parenthood, gender inequality, United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J10 J12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18518 |
| By: | Delaney, Judith (University of Bath); Devereux, Paul (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | We use population-level administrative data on secondary school students in England to examine how mathematical and verbal skills shape educational and labour market outcomes. Tracking cohorts from age 16 through higher education and into employment up to age 34, we show that these skills operate through distinct pathways. Verbal skills strongly predict educational attainment - including university enrolment, completion, and postgraduate study - while mathematical skills yield substantially larger earnings returns. At ages 30-34, moving from the 25th to the 75th percentile of the mathematics distribution is associated with 29% higher earnings, compared with 14% for verbal skills. This divergence is partly driven by field-of-study choice: individuals with stronger verbal skills are more likely to enter fields with higher completion rates but lower pay, while those with stronger mathematical skills sort into STEM and other high-paying fields. Gender differences in skills explain the female advantage in higher education and part of the STEM gap, but have limited impact on the gender earnings gap due to offsetting effects across these channels. |
| Keywords: | math skills, verbal skills, college, field of study, STEM |
| JEL: | I26 I24 I21 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18542 |
| By: | Irlenbusch, Bernd (University of Cologne); Rau, Holger (University of Duisburg-Essen and University of Göttingen); Rilke, Rainer (Economics Group, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management) |
| Abstract: | We study how human versus LLM-based evaluation and gender transparency shape entry into competitive jobs. In a preregistered online experiment, participants first complete a Niederle and Vesterlund (2007) tournament task to measure competitive preferences, then prepare text-based job applications and decide whether to apply under each of four evaluation regimes—human only, LLM only, and two hybrid human-in-the-loop configurations—while gender disclosure is randomized between subjects. LLM involvement reduces application rates, with stronger effects for women than men, including under hybrid designs. Effects are driven by non-competitive candidates; non-competitive women, the group most exposed to AI-induced deterrence, receive the strongest objective evaluations under pure AI assessment across all subgroups, yet are systematically underconfident and apply least often. Competitive men persistently apply and exhibit overconfidence-driven adverse selection, whereas competitive women show resilience to AI-induced deterrence while remaining well-calibrated under AI evaluation and exhibiting positive self-selection across regimes. We find no effects of gender transparency. |
| Keywords: | AI hiring, LLMs, algorithm aversion, gender differences |
| JEL: | C92 J71 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18517 |
| By: | Astarita, Caterina |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the early labour-market effects of the 2021 parental-leave reform introduced un-der Article 28 of Law 4808/2021, adopted within Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The reform extended paid leave rights for both parents and aligned national provisions with Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work–life balance. Greece, characterised by comparatively low female labour-force participation and limited uptake of paternal leave, provides an informative case for assessing how institutional design and European-level policy frameworks can influence gender-equality outcomes in Southern Europe. Using quarterly microdata from the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) and a dy-namic difference-in-differences design, we estimate short-term changes in employment patterns among eligible parents relative to non-eligible comparison groups. Results indicate a moderate, but statistical-ly significant, increase in female employment continuity and a slight rise in paternal leave participa-tion. These findings suggest that in labour-market settings with limited prior experience in work–family policy provision, targeted parental-leave reforms can generate positive behavioural responses when supported by adequate resources and implementation capacity. More broadly, the study contrib-utes to debates on social-policy adaptation within the European social model and situates the reform within the broader institutional context shaped by recent European recovery and social-policy initia-tives. |
| Keywords: | Parental Leave Reform, Work–Life Balance, Gender Balance, Dynamic Difference-in-Differences, EU-LFS, Greece. |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:128004 |