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on Gender |
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Issue of 2026–10–05
seven papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Leighton, Margaret (University of St Andrews); Speer, Jamin (University of Memphis) |
| Abstract: | There is a large gender gap in who chooses STEM majors, yet decades of research have failed to explain this gap in its entirety. We use extensive data on incoming college freshmen to estimate the importance of ability (both test-based and self-assessed), life goals, other self-assessed traits, high school courses, and family background in explaining the gender gap in STEM majors. Even with this detailed data, we can explain only 39% of the gender gap. A Gelbach decomposition shows that self-assessed ability (26%) and high school courses (12%) account for the bulk of the explained gap, while goals explain little and in fact controlling for goals slightly widens the gender gap. Goals are similarly uninformative of the gender gap in STEM persistence from freshman to senior year. On the other hand, goals contribute substantially to gender differences in biology and some non- STEM majors, particularly business, education, and health, but remain uninformative of the gap for the majority of STEM subjects. We conclude that while life goals are strongly related to major choice, gender-based differences in these goals are not the missing piece to the STEM gender gap puzzle. |
| Keywords: | gender gaps, STEM, college major, life goals |
| JEL: | J01 J16 I20 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18936 |
| By: | Bryson, Alex (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Most of the literature estimating the gender wage gap (GWG) in the UK uses regression techniques adjusting for a range of covariates measured in adulthood, many of which are likely endogenous. In doing so, they typically find that about half the raw gap can be accounted for by gender differences in those conditioning variables. Using data for a birth cohort born in 1958 collected prospectively across ten survey sweeps, I depart from the literature in two ways. First, I condition solely on covariates measured in childhood to minimize potential biases arising from conditioning on endogenous variables. Second, I use a range of matching estimators to recover the GWG among ‘like’ men and women. I show that the raw GWG rises until cohort members enter their 40s, then falls but remains sizeable until age 63. In contrast to literature, when conditioning solely on childhood variables the covariate-adjusted GWG is similar to the raw GWG. This is the case at all ages regardless of the matching estimator I use and the set of conditioning childhood covariates. The implication is that among those born in 1958 women have lower earnings than men across the life-course which cannot be accounted for by their pre-labour market experiences. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, birth cohort, National Child Development Study, propensity score matching, entropy weighting, inverse probability weighted regression-adjustment (IPWRA) |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18960 |
| By: | Joshua T. Dean; Christine L. Exley; Muriel Niederle; Heather Sarsons |
| Abstract: | Gender-neutral attitudes judge a behavior the same way regardless of whether a man or a woman does it. Yet surveys of gender attitudes typically ask respondents to evaluate statements about men's or women's behaviors in isolation, never eliciting how the same behavior is evaluated when assigned to the other gender. Such responses therefore cannot reveal whether respondents perceive society as holding gender-neutral views. We introduce paired (role-reversed) elicitation, which varies the gender assigned to otherwise identical behaviors. In a representative sample of Americans, responses to standard statements suggest that few respondents perceive society as holding traditional views toward women. In isolation, this may be seen as evidence that society has moved past gender roles that confine choices. The paired elicitation, however, reveals a gender-neutrality gap: only about half of respondents report the same beliefs across the standard and role-reversed statements, even though these statements only vary in terms of which gender is assigned to which behavior. Thus, a substantial portion of respondents believe that the social acceptability of different actions depends on gender. Paired responses also uncover substantial heterogeneity and reveal broader underlying beliefs driving responses, such as beliefs about work and family rather than gender-specific views. |
| JEL: | D1 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35761 |
| By: | Kauhanen, Antti (ETLA Economic Research); Riukula, Krista (ETLA Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether collective bargaining can reduce gender inequality through targeted wage increases. We examine the Finnish equality allowance, a small contractual wage component corresponding to a wage increase of up to 0.5 percent, introduced in the 2005 comprehensive agreement and implemented in collective agreements in 2006. Using worker-level earnings data linked to collective agreements, we estimate its effects with difference-in-differences methods robust to heterogeneous treatment effects. Equality allowances were more commonly applied in more female-dominated sectors and occupations. Our preferred analysis focuses on the private-sector agreements, where some agreements introduced an equality allowance and others did not. We find no statistically significant effects on hourly earnings, working hours, or employer mobility. However, subgroup analyses provide some evidence of reduced working hours among low-wage women. The findings suggest that a small equality-oriented wage component was insufficient to produce detectable wage gains for women or narrow the gender wage gap, with point estimates consistent with partial offsetting through other components of the contractual settlement. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, gender wage gap, equality allowance, targeted wage increases, Finland |
| JEL: | J52 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18932 |
| By: | Guarnieri, Eleonora (University of Bristol, CEPR, CESifo); Tur-Prats, Ana (University of California, Merced) |
| Abstract: | Why do some cultures go extinct while others prevail? We show that a society’s risk of cultural extinction, proxied by language loss, is shaped by its ancestral gender norms and by how these differ from those of competing cultures. Using the Ethnologue and the Male Dominance Index for a global sample of languages, we first show that languages from more gender-equal societies are likelier to go extinct. In our framework, male-dominant societies are more expansionist through two channels, military capacity sustained by surplus extraction and demographic pressure from women's specialization in domestic and reproductive labor, and therefore expand at the expense of gender-egalitarian groups. We test this in two settings. Under European colonization, we find that Indigenous groups more gender-equal than their colonizers are more vulnerable to extinction, which is best explained by asymmetries in male dominance rather than dominance more broadly. Exploiting local variation in neighbors' gender structure across Africa, we show that languages from more gender-egalitarian societies are less likely to survive in cells located close to male-dominant neighbors, with military capacity and population pressure predicting language expansion. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, language extinction, gender norms, inter-group contact |
| JEL: | Z10 O10 F54 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18947 |
| By: | Francesca Modena (Bank of Italy); Giulia Martina Tanzi (Bank of Italy); Marco Tonello (Bank of Italy); Antonio Veronico (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the characteristics of the faculty members, mainly in terms of gender and age, affect university students' retention. Using student-level administrative data from the census of Italian university students, we exploit the quasi-random variation in the exposure to female and young professors across cohorts, within the same degree program, department, and university. Students' retention improves when the characteristics of the students match those of faculty members: while younger professors benefit all students, female faculty members have positive effects on female students only. |
| Keywords: | university, student retention, dropout, professors' gender and age |
| JEL: | I23 I28 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1038_26 |
| By: | Fang, Guanfu (School of Business, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics); Qian, Benyu (School of Economics, Jinan University); Zhao, Zhong (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the labor market effects of China's After-School Care policy—commonly known as the After-School 3:30 PM Service reform—on maternal employment and earnings. Introduced in 2017, the policy addresses the longstanding mismatch between early school dismissal times and standard work schedules by extending on-campus supervision and enrichment activities into the late afternoon. Exploiting the staggered rollout of the program across counties and over time, we show that the policy significantly increases mothers' labor supply and earnings. We document null effects for fathers. The policy operates by reducing maternal housework time, enabling longer commutes, and facilitating access to formal employment, while also inducing firms to increase job postings for female workers. Effects are concentrated among mothers with egalitarian gender attitudes, with minimal impact on those holding traditional views. |
| Keywords: | after-school care, maternal labor supply, gender norms |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 J22 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18949 |