Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Segregation
Many western economies have seen a fall in the employment share of the traditionally male-dominated, manufacturing sector, while demand is increasing in female-dominated jobs. Still, men appear reluctant to enter these occupations. To understand persistent labor market segregation, I exploit within-school-across-cohort variation in the gender composition of the occupations of schoolmates’ parents, and document that gender segregation is transmitted from one generation to the next. Boys who were exposed to gender-stereotypical male role models enter male-dominated occupations, while those socialized in cohorts with peers whose fathers worked alongside women enter occupations with more women. This effect goes beyond the influence of their father. In general, mothers’ labor market behavior has negligible effects on boys. In contrast, girls are mainly influenced by female role models, and compared to boys the effects are much smaller. However, when a larger share of mothers works full-time, gender segregation decreases in the next generation.
Date: 10 May 2023, 17:00 (Wednesday, 3rd week, Trinity 2023)
Venue: Nuffield College, New Road OX1 1NF
Venue Details: Nuffield College, Staircase L Conference room
Speaker: Anne Sophie Lassen (Copenhagen Business School)
Organising department: Department of Economics
Part of: Postdoctoral Fellows Seminar
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Daria Ihnatenko