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Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male/Female Wage Gap

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Author Info
Charles Brown
Mary Corcoran

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Abstract

In high school and in college, men and women take significantly different courses. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the National Longitudinal Study Class of 1972, we relate these differences in school content to sex differences in adult wages. Differences in field of highest degree account for a significant part of the male-female wage gap among college graduates, but differences in coursework account for very little of the equally large wage gap between men and women with less schooling. We find little consistent evidence that men receive larger rewards for taking traditionally male rather than traditionally female courses and majors, though there is some indication of this for college graduates.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5580.

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Date of creation: May 1996
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5580

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J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Solomon William Polachek, 1978. "Sex differences in college major," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 31(4), pages 498-508, July.
  2. Mincer, Jacob & Polachek, Solomon, 1974. "Family Investment in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages S76-S108, Part II, . [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Corcoran, Mary E & Courant, Paul N, 1985. "Sex Role Socialization and Labor Market Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 275-78, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Frank Levy, 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination," NBER Working Papers 5076, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Gronau, Reuben, 1988. "Sex-Related Wage Differentials and Women's Interrupted Labor Careers--The Chicken or the Egg," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 277-301, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1992. "School Quality and Black-White Relative Earnings: A Direct Assessment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 151-200, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Jacob Mincer & Solomon Polacheck, 1974. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 397-431 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  9. Paglin, Morton & Rufolo, Anthony M, 1990. "Heterogeneous Human Capital, Occupational Choice, and Male-Female Earnings Differences," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 123-44, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Derek A. Neal & William R. Johnson, 1995. "The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," NBER Working Papers 5124, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Gunderson, Morley, 1989. "Male-Female Wage Differentials and Policy Responses," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 46-72, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Johnson, George & Solon, Gary, 1986. "Estimates of the Direct Effects of Comparable Worth Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1117-25, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Blakemore, Arthur E & Low, Stuart A, 1984. "Sex Differences in Occupational Selection: The Case of College Majors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(1), pages 157-63, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Alan Manning & Joanna Swaffield, 2005. "The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth," CEP Discussion Papers dp0700, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Örs, Evren & Palomino, Frédéric & Peyrache, Eloïc, 2008. "Performance Gender-Gap: Does Competition Matter?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6891, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Hübler, Olaf, 2003. "Geschlechtsspezifische Lohnunterschiede (Gender-specific wage differentials)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 36(4), pages 539-559. [Downloadable!]
  4. C Dougherty, 2003. "Why is the Rate of Return to Schooling Higher For Women Than For Men?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0581, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  5. N. Chiteji & Darrick Hamilton, 2002. "Family connections and the black-white wealth gap among middle-class families," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 9-28, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. June O'Neill, 2003. "The Gender Gap in Wages, circa 2000," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 309-314, May. [Downloadable!]
  7. Helen Levy, 2006. "Health Insurance and the Wage Gap," NBER Working Papers 11975, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," NBER Working Papers 7732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Kunze, Astrid, 2005. "Vocational Training and Gender: Wages and Occupational Mobility among young Workers," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-66, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Long-Hwa Chen & Hsin-Fan Chen, 2007. "The role of computer use and English proficiency in gender wage inequality: Taiwanese evidence," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 10(16), pages 1-9. [Downloadable!]
  11. Stephen L. Ross, 2003. "What Is Known about Testing for Discrimination: Lessons Learned by Comparing across Different Markets," Working papers 2003-21, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2003. [Downloadable!]
  12. Lisa Giddings, 2002. "Changes in gender earnings differentials in Bulgaria's transition to a mixed-market economy," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 481-497, Fall. [Downloadable!]
  13. Machin, Stephen & Puhani, Patrick A., 2002. "Subject of Degree and the Gender Wage Differential: Evidence from the UK and Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 553, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Michal Myck & Gillian Paull, 2004. "The role of employment experience in explaining the gender wage gap," IFS Working Papers W04/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
  15. Yana Rodgers & Joseph Zveglich & Laura Wherry, 2006. "Gender differences in vocational school training and earnings premiums in Taiwan," Feminist Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 527-560, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Livanos, Ilias, 2008. "The Gender Wage Gap as a Function of Educational Degree Choices in Greece," MPRA Paper 14168, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Mar 2009. [Downloadable!]
  17. Glenn Ellison & Ashley Swanson, 2009. "The Gender Gap in Secondary School Mathematics at High Achievement Levels: Evidence from the American Mathematics Competitions," NBER Working Papers 15238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Francine D. Blau, 1997. "Trends in the Well-Being of American Women, 1970-1995," NBER Working Papers 6206, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Sami Napari, 2006. "The Early Career Gender Wage Gap," CEP Discussion Papers dp0738, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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