Gender gaps in early wage expectations

Using detailed data from a unique survey of high school graduates in Germany, we document a gender gap in expected full-time earnings of more than 15%. We decompose this early gender gap and find that especially differences in coefficients help explain different expectations. In particular, the effe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEconomics of education review Vol. 94; p. 102398
Main Authors Leibing, Andreas, Peter, Frauke, Waights, Sevrin, Spiess, C. Katharina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2023
Subjects
College enrollment
Gender gap
Wage expectations
Gender gap
College enrollment
Wage expectations
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Summary:Using detailed data from a unique survey of high school graduates in Germany, we document a gender gap in expected full-time earnings of more than 15%. We decompose this early gender gap and find that especially differences in coefficients help explain different expectations. In particular, the effects of having time for family as career motive and being first-generation college student are associated with large penalties in female wage expectations exclusively. This is especially true for higher expected career paths. Resulting expected returns to education are associated with college enrollment of women and could thus entrench subsequent gaps in realized earnings.
ISSN:0272-7757
1873-7382
DOI:10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102398