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Title: In Search of the Glass Ceiling: Gender and Earnings Growth among U.S. College Graduates in the 1990s
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2011
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Abstract: Gender-typical educational choices and lower rates of earnings growth, or the "glass ceiling," are widely believed to explain why older women earn far less than observably similar men. Using panels of college-educated workers from the 1990s, I search for differential growth rates predicted by both human capital and discrimination models. To the contrary, this study finds similar average rates of earnings growth for women and men across numerous specifications, suggesting that the gender gap in earnings is determined by factors already present early in the career; however, changes in educational choices explain only a tiny fraction of between-cohort narrowing of the gender gap. Further exploration reveals slower earnings growth by women within two groups: The first is young mothers, who experience slower earnings growth during the early career relative to men the same age, but then more than compensate with faster growth later in their careers. The second is the group of women with exceptionally high earnings levels; relative to men the same age with similarly high levels of attainment, women are underrepresented among workers winning the largest promotions. This phenomenon affects a very small, but potentially influential, subset of women facing a glass ceiling at the very top of the career ladder.
Url: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001979391106400506
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Authors: Polachek, Solomon
Periodical (Full): Industrial and Labor Relations Review
Issue: 5
Volume: 64
Pages: 949-980
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure
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