Counter-Stereotypical Female Role Models and Women's Occupational Choices

This paper examines the relation between counter-stereotypical female role models and women's labor supply and occupational choices. Using hand-collected data from Gallup surveys that cover more than 50 years, we create a direct measure of counter-stereotypical female role models based on the fraction of local survey respondents who state that they admire famous women in business, politics, or science. We show that admiring counter-stereotypical female role models is associated with more women participating in the labor market, working in male-dominated and STEM industries, and taking managerial positions, which eventually alleviates the gender pay gap.

Keywords: Female Role Models, Occupational Choice, Gender Gap, Labor Supply

JEL Classification: J16, J22, J24

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Chhaochharia, Vidhi and Du, Mengqiao and Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra and Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra, Counter-Stereotypical Female Role Models and Women's Occupational Choices (December 22, 2021). University of Miami Business School Research Paper No. 3796264, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 196, 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3796264 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3796264