Occupational Prestige and the Gender Wage Gap

Abstract

Summary Occupational segregation by gender remains widespread and explains a significant part of the gender wage gap. We shed light on the reasons why occupational segregation persists despite the increases in women's education and labor force participation, and why it results in a gender wage gap. Women express a stronger relative preference than men for occupations that are valuable to society, which we argue is captured by their occupational prestige. If women prefer occupations with higher occupational prestige, they will earn lower wages because of compensating wage differentials. Using conditional logit models of occupational choice, we find statistically significant support for this hypothesis. The effect is economically significant: the gender differences in the weights placed on prestige and wages can explain up to one half of the gender wage gap resulting from occupational segregation, or about one fourth of the overall gender wage gap. Our results are strongest for individuals with low ability, which suggests that social norms may be an important factor in generating these gender differences.

Artists' labour market and gender: Evidence from German visual artists

“…They do not explore gender differences in incomes of the artist but find gender differences in the profession survival, specifically that female visual artists have, on balance, a higher probability of staying in the artists' labour market. This result is in line with Kleinjans et al (2017), suggesting that females tend to choose the professions with higher occupational prestige, with artist being one of such profession contributing significantly to public goods.…”

Gender stereotypes have changed: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018.

“…The competence findings challenge the assumption that women, as a lower status social group, are accorded less competence than are men (e.g., Ridgeway, 2014). This assumption neglects women’s educational attainments and entry into high-prestige occupations (e.g., physician, education administrator), which diminished men’s once-strong advantage in occupational prestige (Lippa et al, 2014; see also Kleinjans, Krassel, & Dukes, 2017). Occupational prestige may have a greater influence on competence beliefs than do other status indicators (income and hierarchical power), on which women remain more disadvantaged.…”

The contribution of personality traits and social norms to the gender pay gap: A systematic literature review

“…Thus, they can draw on relatively large samples and analyze differences between full-and part-time workers as well as differences between cohorts. Some studies, however, focus on young adults to better understand wage dynamics upon labour market entry (Bensidoun & Trancart, 2018;Fortin, 2008;Kleinjans et al, 2017;Manning & Swaffield, 2008;Strain & Webber, 2017). This is particularly important to understand as the pay gap upon labour market entry tends to have long-term effects.…”

“…For instance, Cobb-Clark and Tan (2011) examine if gender differences in personality traits influence occupational attainment and whether this contributes to differences in relative wages. Kleinjans et al (2017) argue that social norms and gender roles are drivers for the different weights that women and men place on occupational prestige, and that this impacts on wages and the wage gap. Lesner (2019) defines occupations in terms of personality traits requirements and then explores the extent to which the gender wage gap is a function of these personality traits requirements of occupations.…”