 Missing women in STEM occupations: The impact of university education on the gender gap in graduates' transition to workAzzurra Meoli, Evila Piva and Hérica Righi Research Policy, 2024, vol. 53, issue 8 Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature on the drivers of the gender gap in STEM by focusing on a critical career juncture: the bridge between university study in STEM fields and work. We investigate the effect of selected characteristics of recent STEM graduates' university education on the difference between women and men in their likelihood of obtaining STEM occupations shortly after graduation. Using unique data on a large sample of graduates in male-dominated STEM fields, we show that a diversified university curriculum increases the likelihood of women graduates getting STEM occupations shortly after graduation, while it does not affect men. In contrast, doing internships during university studies and participating in study abroad programs reduce the likelihood of men graduates entering STEM occupations, but does not affect women. Additionally, students' graduation grades increase the probability of both women and men securing STEM occupations. Keywords: Gender gap; STEM occupations; University education (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:53:y:2024:i:8:s0048733324001215 DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2024.105072 Access Statistics for this article Research Policy is currently edited by M. Bell, B. Martin, W.E. Steinmueller, A. Arora, M. Callon, M. Kenney, S. Kuhlmann, Keun Lee and F. Murray More articles in Research Policy from Elsevier |
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