Motivation, Expectations and the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates
33 Pages Posted: 29 Apr 2004
Date Written: April 2004
Abstract
Focusing on recent UK graduates, a wage gap of 12% is found. The unexplained component of the gap is small and a large fraction of the gap can be explained by subject choice, job characteristics, motivation and expectation variables. Motivation and expectations account for 44% of the explained gap, thus most studies over-estimate the unexplained component of the gender wage gap. Following stereotypes, women tend to be more altruistic and less career oriented than men, character traits that are less rewarded by employers. The principal component of the gender wage gap is expectations about childrearing. These conservative attitudes affect women's wages even at an early stage of their career. Without a hange in attitude, the gender wage gap is likely to remain.
Keywords: gender wage gap, attitude
JEL Classification: J16, J13, J29, J70
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Do Women Shy Away from Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?
By Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund
-
By Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn
-
The Us Gender Pay Gap in the 1990s: Slowing Convergence
By Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn
-
The U.S. Gender Pay Gap in the 1990s: Slowing Convergence
By Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn
-
Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society
By Uri Gneezy, Kenneth L. Leonard, ...
-
Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male-Female Earnings
By Gerrit Mueller and Erik Plug
-
Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male/Female Wage Gap
By Charles Brown and Mary Corcoran