| Lois Joy
Smith College
Gender differences in the transition from college to work: Salaries, occupations, and job changes in the skilled job market
FINAL REPORT:
I examined gender differences in the salaries and occupations of recent college graduates. All three of the major papers I have written draw from the NCES Baccalaureate and Beyond 1993/94/97 surveys. In the first paper, "Salaries of Recent Male and Female College Graduates: Educational and Labor Market Effects," I draw from academic and labor market variables to estimate several salary regressions. Results suggest that, unlike in the past, labor market variables outweigh academic variables in their contribution to the gender salary gap. Of the academic variables, gender differences in total credits account for more of the salary gap than gender differences in majors, grades, or institution attended. Of the labor market variables, gender differences in job sector, industry, and hours worked have the largest effect on gender differences in salaries. Differences in how men and women search for and select first jobs appear to have little impact on gender differences in salary. Most important, as much as 75% of the wage gap remains unexplained by both the academic and labor market variables. This paper has been accepted for publication in the economics journal Industrial and Labor Relations Review.
In the second paper, "Occupational Differences Between Recent Male and Female College Graduates", I estimate a multinomial logit model of occupational choice. Key results show that gender differences in college major explain a large and significant portion of gender differences in the medical and teaching occupations, and a smaller but still significant difference in engineering/computer occupations. Gender differences in wanting a future job in management account for men's greater likelihood of entering these professions. None of these factors, however, account for gender differences in clerical, labor, and technical/sales occupations.
In the final paper, "Salary Growth of Recent Male and Female College Graduates: Family, Education and Labor Market Effects", I estimate several salary growth models. Key results attribute women's slower salary growth to gender differences in the engineering college major, most recent occupation and industry, and hours worked per week in current job. However, 74% of the gender gap in salary growth remains unexplained by gender differences in the family,
Taken together, this research suggests that compared to similarly educated men, recent female college graduates encounter salary and occupational disadvantages that grow over time. These gender differences in labor market outcomes are not fully explained by gender differences in college majors, grades, school attended, occupations, and other job choice variables. While education policies can begin to reduce gender disparities in earnings, they cannot eliminate them. For example, even when women major in computer science, they are less likely than men to obtain a job in their field and when they do, they earn less than men. As a result, additional policies to facilitate gender equity in transitions from college to the workplace and workplace advancement will also be required.
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