Gender wage differentials and educational mismatch: an application to the Spanish case

• Published in: Applied economics Vol. 45; no. 30; pp. 4226 - 4235
• Main Authors: Salinas-Jiménez, Ma del Mar, Rahona-López, Marta, Murillo-Huertas, Inés P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 01.10.2013; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Applied economics; Educational attainment; educational mismatch; Employment discrimination; Gender differentiation; Gender equity; Gender pay gap; Gender studies; gender wage gap; Level of education; Returns to education; Spain; Studies; Wage differential; Wage discrimination; Spain
• ISSN: 0003-6846; 1466-4283
• DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2013.781260

This article aims to analyse gender wage differentials in Spain by taking into account the levels of educational attainment and by studying whether the educational mismatch affects the gender wage gap. Focusing on returns to education, evidence is found on the existence of educational mismatch and on its contribution to determine wages, with women suffering greater wage penalties that are associated with educational mismatch. Furthermore, although the gender wage gap is lower for individuals with low educational levels, we find that the part of this gap due to differences in returns is greater in this group. On the contrary, the gender gap is greater among highly-educated workers, but in this case most of the wage differentials are due to differences in productive characteristics. In any case, our results suggest that gender wage discrimination tends to be greater for those workers who show educational mismatch.