The Gender Gap Among Recent Liberal Arts College Graduates: Why Women Have Lower Pay, Job Prestige, and Benefits

• In Event: 72.066 - Poster Session 16
  In Poster Session: 72.066-5 - Society, Culture, and Change Poster Session

Abstract

Among a sample of recent liberal arts college graduates, we find that men have greater pay, job prestige, and odds of being salaried and receiving benefits. To a large extent, this is true even when controlling for major, sector of employment, and industry of employment. Our findings suggest that these gaps in outcomes are due to employer behavior and the influence of gendered socialization on students’ values, interests, and behavior. The factors that matter most for explaining the pay gap and for explaining the prestige gap differ. Examining different elements of what makes a job a good one helps us understand the troubling persistence of the sex gap in employment outcomes among recent college graduates.

Authors

• Serena Eliz Hinz, RTI International

• Allison Hurst, Furman University

• Debbie M Warnock, University of Louisville