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Wage Profiles in STEM and Non-STEM Careers

Author

Listed:
  • Alexeev, Michael

    (Indiana University)

  • Chernina, Yevgenia

    (New Uzbekistan University)

  • Gimpelson, Vladimir

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Zinchenko, Darya

    (Higher School of Economics (HSE))

Abstract

We compare wage profiles for STEM-educated and non-STEM-educated individuals over their lifetimes. Using repeated cross-sectional data from Russia, we examine how the dynamics of these types of human capital are affected by technological developments, applying the Age-Period-Cohort decomposition to workers’ life cycle wage growth. Additionally, we account for heterogeneity in the impact of institutional quality on lifetime wage profiles. We show that STEM education is associated with flatter wage-experience profiles than non-STEM education, with the most pronounced differences observed among females. The cohort effect, apparently specific to the former Soviet-type economies, reveals itself in devaluing some types of older education, putting non-STEM cohorts educated during the Soviet period at a disadvantage relative to those with STEM education. Importantly, in the Russian case, the age/experience effects act in the direction opposite to the cohort effects, rendering the cross-sectional analysis somewhat misleading. Finally, wage-experience profiles for males with non-STEM education are steeper in regions with weak institutions than in regions with stronger institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexeev, Michael & Chernina, Yevgenia & Gimpelson, Vladimir & Zinchenko, Darya, 2025. "Wage Profiles in STEM and Non-STEM Careers," IZA Discussion Papers 17875, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17875
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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