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Gender Segregation in Education and Its Implications for Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from India

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  • Soham Sahoo
  • Stephan Klasen

Abstract

This paper investigates gender-based segregation across different fields of study at the postsecondary level of schooling, and how that affects subsequent labour market outcomes of men and women. Using a nationally representative longitudinal data-set from India, we provide evidence that there is substantial intra-household gender disparity in the choice of study stream at the higher-secondary level of education. A household fixed effects regression shows that girls are 20 percentage points less likely than boys to study in technical streams, namely science (STEM) and commerce, vis-à-vis arts or humanities. This gender disparity is not driven by gender specific differences in mathematical ability, as the gap remains large and significant even after controlling for individuals’ past test scores. Our further analysis on working-age individuals suggests that technical stream choice at higher-secondary level significantly affects the gender gap in labour market outcomes in adult life, including labour force participation, nature of employment, and earnings. Thus our findings reveal how gender disparity in economic outcomes at a later stage in the life-course is affected by gendered trajectories set earlier in life, especially at the school level.

Suggested Citation

  • Soham Sahoo & Stephan Klasen, 2018. "Gender Segregation in Education and Its Implications for Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from India," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 248, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    • Handle: RePEc:got:gotcrc:248
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    Cited by:

    1. Sarkar, Sudipa & Chakravorty, Bhaskar & Lyonette, Clare, 2020. "Social Identity and Aspiration - Double Jeopardy or Intersectionality? Evidence from Rural India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 724, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. M. Rahul & Deepika Srivastava, 2022. "The Gender Pay Gap Among Indian Software Developers," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 283-306, December.
    3. Mohanty, Smrutirekha, 2021. "A distributional analysis of the gender wage gap among technical degree and diploma holders in urban India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Martin Mulwa & Timothy Gichana, 2020. "Does education reduce gender differentials in labor market participation? A Kenyan perspective," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 446-458, September.
    5. Sophia Kan & Simon Lange, 2021. "An appreciation of Professor Stephan Klasen and his contribution to development economics," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 104-115, February.
    6. Kumar, Anand & Sahoo, Soham, 2021. "Social Identity and STEM Choice: Evidence from Higher Secondary Schooling in India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 900, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Banerjee, Souvik & Mukhopadhyay, Sankar & Jaiswal, Preeti, 2025. "Motherhood and Labour Market Outcomes: Penalty or Premium?," IZA Discussion Papers 18246, IZA Network @ LISER.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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