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It's all about maths! Skill requirements and the gender gap in occupational choice

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  • Thea S. Zoellner

Abstract

Although occupational choice research clearly shows the under-representation of women in mathematics- and science-related fields (STEM), the existing research mostly focuses on i) high-ability (university) students (rather than a wider spectrum of students) and ii) the choice between STEM or non-STEM fields (not specifically between mathematics and science). This study, in turn, investigates the gender gap in occupational choice by using data on the career choices of a wide spectrum of young Swiss students, who choose their work apprenticeships at age 15/16. Specifically, this study investigates whether students' gender is associated with differences in occupational requirements (mathematics, science, language) conditional on individual occupation preferences, skills, personality traits and socio-economic characteristics. The novel dataset links a representative student survey, administrative data on education trajectories and data on occupational skill requirements. While the results suggest only a very small gender gap in favour of men in occupations with higher science requirements (higher "science intensity"), the results suggest a statistically and economically significant gender gap in favour of men in occupations with higher mathematics requirements (higher "mathematics intensity") equivalent to a 12% wage reduction for women over the working life. The results suggest that the mathematics intensity of an occupation is associated with gender segregation both within STEM and non-STEM occupations.

Suggested Citation

  • Thea S. Zoellner, 2025. "It's all about maths! Skill requirements and the gender gap in occupational choice," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0237, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iso:educat:0237
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    occupational choice; gender gap; STEM; skill requirements;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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