The origins of the gender pay gap: education and job characteristics

Gulia Bovini (), Marta De Philippis () and Lucia Rizzica
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Gulia Bovini: Bank of Italy
Marta De Philippis: Bank of Italy

No 1470, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: This paper analyses the role that field of study choices and firm and job characteristics play in explaining gender pay gaps among university graduates at the beginning of their careers. We exploit a unique administrative population-wide dataset for Italy. We find that choices of university majors alone explain almost 60 per cent of the early career gender pay gap, since women tend to graduate in fields that give access to lower-paying firms and jobs. Sorting across firms and jobs only accounts for 20 per cent of the gap, indicating that its role is largely mediated by field specialization choices made while still in education.

Keywords: gender pay gap; field of study; tertiary education; sorting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 J45 J62 J82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1470_24

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