Has Higher Education Among Young Women Substantially Reduced the Gender Gap in Employment and Earnings?
by Marc Frenette and Simon Coulombe
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, No. 301
Context
The large differences in labour market outcomes that exist between men and women have been the focus of countless studies. The issue is important for several reasons, not the least of which is equity concerns. The issue of gender employment and pay equity has gained importance in recent years given the rapidly rising educational attainment of women. In 1981, 16.2% of women and 15.5% of men aged 25 to 29 years old who were in the labour force held a university degree. By 2001, the gap had increased dramatically: 31.3% of young women and 21.6% of young men held a university degree. Despite the rapid rise in educational attainment among young women in the 1990s, very little ground has been gained in terms of gender earnings equality.
Objective(s)
The objective of this study is to assess the role of rapidly rising educational attainment of young women in explaining trends in the gender gap in labour market outcomes, such as obtaining fulltime employment and earnings.
Findings
The findings suggest that the educational trends have not contributed towards a decline in the full-time employment gap. Nevertheless, they have contributed towards a small decline in the gender earnings gap, especially in the 1990s. However, university-educated women have lost ground to university-educated men. This is likely due to the fact that men and women continued to choose traditional disciplines during the 1990s, but only male-dominated disciplines saw improvements in average earnings.
Data source(s)
This study uses Census data.
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