Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/185120 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11660
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper investigates gender-based segregation across different fields of study at the post-secondary level of schooling, and how that affects subsequent labour market outcomes of men and women. Using a nationally representative longitudinal data-set from India, we provide evidence that there is substantial intra-household gender disparity in the choice of study stream at the higher-secondary level of education. A household fixed effects regression shows that girls are 20 percentage points less likely than boys to study in technical streams, namely science (STEM) and commerce, vis-à-vis arts or humanities. This gender disparity is not driven by gender specific differences in mathematical ability, as the gap remains large and significant even after controlling for individuals' past test scores. Our further analysis on working-age individuals suggests that technical stream choice at higher-secondary level significantly affects the gender gap in labour market outcomes in adult life, including labour force participation, nature of employment, and earnings. Thus our findings reveal how gender disparity in economic outcomes at a later stage in the life-course is affected by gendered trajectories set earlier in life, especially at the school level.
Subjects: 
post-secondary education
STEM
gender
labour market
India
JEL: 
I20
J16
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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