The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth: The Role of Children, Job Mobility, and Occupational Mobility

Abstract

During the first 10 years in the Swedish labor market, male university graduates experience a faster wage growth than females. We investigate the role job and upward occupational mobility have for the creation of gender difference in early career wage growth; and the role of motherhood as an underlying mechanism. We find that although men and women change jobs and occupations at the same rate, women receive a significantly lower wage returns to mobility than men. We find evidence that women's lower return to occupational mobility is largely explained by motherhood, while the evidence for job mobility is rather weak.

The career dynamics of high-skilled women and men: Evidence from Sweden

“…For firms with fewer than 500 employees, a stratified sample (based on industry and on firm size) is used each year. As a result, in any given year, 1 A related paper is Reshid (2017) who uses the same data source as we do and study the role of job and upward occupational mobility in explaining gender differences early career wage growth of college graduates. Results show that job mobility and upward occupational mobility significantly contribute to the early career wage growth but that the returns to both types of mobility are significantly lower for females.…”

The gender wage gap and the early‐career effect: the role of actual experience and education level

“…The dynamics of the wage gap can also follow from gender discrimination in the labor market, changes in family situation that affect men and women differently, gender differences in levels of ambition, or from differences in unobserved abilities that are revealed over time. The early-career effect in the gender wage gap is previously documented by Manning and Swaffield (2008) and for college-educated workers by Bertrand et al (2010), Albrecht et al (2018) and Reshid (2019). Kunze (2005) provides some contrasting evidence for workers with 9-10 years of schooling followed by 2-3 years of apprenticeship training, where the gender wage gap is large upon entry to the labor market and stays constant during the early career.…”

“…(2010), Albrecht et al . (2018) and Reshid (2019). Kunze (2005) provides some contrasting evidence for workers with 9–10 years of schooling followed by 2–3 years of apprenticeship training, where the gender wage gap is large upon entry to the labor market and stays constant during the early career.…”

“…(2010) on young professionals in the US financial and corporate sectors, Albrecht et al . (2018) on Swedish workers with a university degree in business or economics, and Reshid (2019) on Swedish university graduates in general. They all conclude that the gender wage gap increases rapidly during the early stages of the career.…”

“…The early-career effect in the aggregate gender wage gap is previously documented by Manning and Swaffield (2008) using a sample of workers included in the British Household Panel Study. Recent analyses typically focus on college graduates and include Bertrand et al (2010) on young professionals in the US financial and corporate sectors, Albrecht et al (2018) on Swedish workers with a university degree in business or economics, and Reshid (2019) on Swedish university graduates in general. They all conclude that the gender wage gap increases rapidly during the early stages of the career.…”