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High school experiences, the gender wage gap, and the selection of occupation

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  • Michael R. Strain
  • Douglas A. Webber

Abstract

Using within-high-school variation and controlling for a measure of cognitive ability, this article finds that high-school leadership experiences explain a significant portion of the residual gender wage gap and selection into management occupations. Our results imply that high-school leadership could build non-cognitive, productive skills that are rewarded years later in the labour market and that explain a portion of the systematic difference in pay between men and women. Alternatively, high-school leadership could be a proxy variable for personality characteristics that differ between men and women and that drive higher pay and becoming a manager. Because high-school leadership experiences are exogenous to direct labour market experiences, our results leave less room for direct labour market discrimination as a driver of the gender wage gap and occupation selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael R. Strain & Douglas A. Webber, 2017. "High school experiences, the gender wage gap, and the selection of occupation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(49), pages 5040-5049, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:49:y:2017:i:49:p:5040-5049
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2017.1299100
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    Cited by:

    1. Moeeni, Safoura & Wei, Feng, 2022. "The labor market returns to unobserved skills: Evidence from a gender quota," CLEF Working Paper Series 53, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    2. Claudia Roethlisberger & Franziska Gassmann & Wim Groot & Bruno Martorano, 2023. "The contribution of personality traits and social norms to the gender pay gap: A systematic literature review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 377-408, April.
    3. Roshini Brizmohun & Diana Alessandrini & Valentina Hartarska, 2021. "Gender wage gap in small islands: Effect of a policy framework in Mauritius," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2207-2229, November.
    4. Li, Lilian & Cheng, Mingwang & Chen, Chunyan, 2025. "Gender wage gap of migrant workers and its root causes: Gender discrimination or labor endowment?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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