Not for the Profit, But for the Training? Gender Differences in Training in the For‐Profit and Non‐Profit Sectors

Abstract

In this article, we use Canadian‐linked employer–employee data to examine gender differences in receiving firm‐sponsored training. We find that women in the for‐profit sector are less likely to receive classroom training and receive fewer classroom training courses. However, we find the opposite in the non‐profit sector, where women are more likely to receive both classroom and on‐the‐job training, and also receive more classroom training courses. We show that women's worse training opportunities in the for‐profit sector mainly operate within workplaces. We find no evidence that gender gaps in training in the for‐profit sector are driven by lower probabilities of accepting training offers, child or family commitments, weaker labour market attachment or worker self‐selection. We also find that gender differences in expected changes in wages and training opportunities between the two sectors can explain a large portion of women's higher probability of employment in the non‐profit sector. Finally, decomposition results suggest that part of the gender wage gap in the for‐profit sector, which is twice as large as in the non‐profit sector, can be explained by gender differences in training.