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The End of Men and Rise of Women in the High-Skilled Labor Market

Author

Listed:
  • Nir Jaimovich

    (Duke University)

  • Henry Siu

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Guido Matias Cortes

    (University of Manchester)

Abstract

We document a new finding regarding the deterioration of labor market outcomes for men in the US: Since 1980, the probability that a college-educated man was employed in a cognitive/high-wage occupation fell. This contrasts starkly with the experience of college-educated women: their probability of working in these occupations rose, despite a much larger increase in the supply of educated women relative to men during this period. We study a general neoclassical model of the labor market that allows us to shed light on the forces capable of rationalizing these observations. The model indicates that one key channel is a greater increase in the demand for female-oriented skills in cognitive/high-wage occupations relative to other occupations. Using occupational-level data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, we find evidence that this relative increase in the demand for female skills is due to an increasing importance of social skills within such occupations. We find a strong and robust relationship between the change in the female share of employment and the importance of social skills in an occupation over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Nir Jaimovich & Henry Siu & Guido Matias Cortes, 2017. "The End of Men and Rise of Women in the High-Skilled Labor Market," 2017 Meeting Papers 809, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed017:809
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Sonia Bhalotra & Martin Karlsson & Therese Nilsson & Nina Schwarz, 2022. "Infant Health, Cognitive Performance, and Earnings: Evidence from Inception of the Welfare State in Sweden," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1138-1156, November.
    4. Kovalenko, Tim & Töpfer, Marina, 2021. "Cyclical dynamics and the gender pay gap: A structural VAR approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Jaimovich, Nir & Saporta-Eksten, Itay & Siu, Henry & Yedid-Levi, Yaniv, 2021. "The macroeconomics of automation: Data, theory, and policy analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-16.
    6. Zhang, Su & Xia, Yan & Wang, Huijuan & Pan, Jiaofeng, 2025. "The good, the bad: How digital technology shapes welfare for formal and flexible workers?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 2007-2029.
    7. Verdugo, Gregory & Allègre, Guillaume, 2020. "Labour force participation and job polarization: Evidence from Europe during the Great Recession," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. WU, Yunxia & LI, Lei & Zheng, Yanyan, 2024. "The impact of digitization in manufacturing on female employment and gender wage gap," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    9. Giovanni Gallipoli & Khalil Esmkhani & Michael Böhm, 2019. "Skill-Biased Firms and the Distribution of Labor Market Returns," 2019 Meeting Papers 1199, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Fernandez Sierra, Manuel, 2018. "The Distribution of the Gender Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 11640, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Anna Matysiak & Wojciech Hardy & Lucas van der Velde, 2025. "Structural Labour Market Change and Gender Inequality in Earnings," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 39(2), pages 426-448, April.
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    More about this item

    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
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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