Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/278859 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16161
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Occupational segregation is one of the major causes of the gender pay gap. We probe the possibility that individual beliefs regarding gender stereotypes established in childhood contribute to gendered sorting. Using an experiment with two vignette designs, which was carried out in schools in the UK, we consider whether students aged 15-16 years recommend that a fictitious peer pursue different college majors and career paths simply because of their gender. We find strong evidence that this is the case. The within-majors treatment design shows that our respondents are 11 percentage points more likely to recommend corporate law to a male peer. The across-majors design reveals that students presented with a male fictitious peer tend to recommend degrees that have lower shares of females to males.
Subjects: 
sorting
gender stereotype
gender
vignette design
occupational choice
college major choice
JEL: 
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
887.55 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.