Early Gender Gaps among University Graduates

Marco Francesconi and Matthias Parey

No 11361, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use data from six cohorts of university graduates in Germany to assess the extent of gender gaps in college and labor market performance twelve to eighteen months after graduation. Men and women enter college in roughly equal numbers, but more women than men complete their degrees. Women enter college with slightly better high school grades, but women leave university with slightly lower marks. Immediately following university completion, male and female full-timers work very similar number of hours per week, but men earn more than women across the pay distribution, with an unadjusted gender gap in full-time monthly earnings of about 20 log points on average. Including a large set of controls reduces the gap to 5-10 log points. The single most important proximate factor that explains the gap is field of study at university.

Keywords: university graduates; field of study; gender wage gap; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2018-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur, nep-gen, nep-lma and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

Published - revised version published in: European Economic Review, 2018, 109, 63-82

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Journal Article: Early gender gaps among university graduates (2018)
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