Accounting for the gender gap in college attainment
Publication type
journal article
Publication date
2013
Author(s)
Ge, S.
Yang, F.
Language
English
View point(s)
Student Level
Geographical area
Abstract
One striking phenomenon in the U.S. labor market is the reversal of the gender gap in college attainment. Females have outnumbered males in college attainment since 1987. We develop a discrete choice model of college entry decisions to study the driving forces of changes in college attainment by gender. We find that the increase in relative earnings between college-educated and high-school-educated individuals and the increasing parental education have important effects on the increase in college attainment for both genders, but cannot explain the reversal of the gender gap. Rising divorce probabilities increase returns to college for females and decrease those for males, and thus are crucial in explaining the reversal of the gender gap in college attainment. © 2010 Western Economic Association International.
Journal
Economic Inquiry
ISSN
1465-7295
Volume
51
Issue
1
Pagination
478-499