| Donna Bobbitt-Zeher
Ohio State University
Gender, higher education, and labor market stratification
Today's educational policymakers must make decisions concerning institutional access within the context of unprecedented success in schooling on the part of girls and young women. While much discussion has focused on gendered patterns of educational participation and accomplishment, little research has explored the consequences of these patterns for gender inequality in the labor market. This dissertation begins to fill this void by addressing two central research questions: 1) to what degree does young women's educational success translate into earnings equity for young workers; and 2) to what extent have the changing educational patterns favoring women contributed to declines in earnings inequality historically. In addressing both questions, the author focuses on the contribution of sex segregation in fields of study to the declining yet persistent gender income gap. Analyzing data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS), EGLS regression results suggest a substantial gender income gap for young college-educated workers (about $7000 per year) that would be considerable (about $4,500 per year) if women and men enjoyed similar educational credentials. Using regression decomposition, gender integration of college majors is the educational route most promising for further reducing gender income differentials. In addition to considering the contemporary scene, historical analysis of education's role in mediating gender earnings gaps is conducted. Using EGLS regression and regression decomposition on NCES data from young adults in the 1970s (National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972), 1980s (High School and Beyond), and 1990s (NELS), the author considers how women's gains in education (as well as changes in family formation and occupational choices) have helped reduce the gender income gap over this time period. By reorienting our thinking to the consequences of gendered patterns of educational success, this work should inform policymakers of the need to continue efforts to integrate fields of study as a necessary condition for gender equality.
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