Motivation, Expectations and the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates

33 Pages Posted: 29 Apr 2004

See all articles by Arnaud Chevalier

Arnaud Chevalier

University College Dublin (UCD) - Institute for the Study of Social Change; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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

Chevalier, Arnaud, Motivation, Expectations and the Gender Pay Gap for UK Graduates (April 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=527125 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.527125

Arnaud Chevalier (Contact Author)

University College Dublin (UCD) - Institute for the Study of Social Change ( email )

Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
+353 1 716 4616 (Phone)
+353 1 716 1108 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 7 / 9
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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