Gendered Language and the Educational Gender Gap
7 Pages Posted: 23 May 2016 Last revised: 22 Feb 2018
Date Written: February 21, 2018
Abstract
Languages differ in the degree to which they employ gender distinctions for nouns and pronouns. Speaking a more gendered language may highlight gender in the mind of the speaker, leading to more pronounced gender roles, and is associated with lower female labor force participation rates, earlier female marriage, and greater fertility. We advance this literature by showing that speaking a more highly gendered language is also associated with a greater gender gap in educational attainment.
Keywords: culture; language; gender; educational inequality
JEL Classification: I24; J16; Z1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation