RESEARCH
“STEMming the Gender Gap in the Applied Fields: Where are the Leaks in the Pipeline?” (Job Market Paper)
In pure STEM fields, women are no longer a minority, but in applied STEM fields like computer science and engineering, their representation remains persistently low for nearly half a century. To understand where the leaks are in the pipeline, I develop and estimate a dynamic model spanning from high school to early career to examine four sources of female under-representation: initial skill gaps, preference differences, wage disparities in STEM sectors, and aversion to male-dominated occupations. In the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth - 1979 Cohort, males show a higher interest in STEM coursework and better STEM skills by 10th grade, primarily in mechanical skills, leading to wider skill disparities. Simulation results show that mechanical skills are more important than math skills in explaining women's low participation in applied-STEM fields and have contrasting effects on college enrollment and the selection of applied-STEM majors and occupations. Closing gender skill gaps upon exiting high school reduces female under-representation by 67% in applied STEM majors and 31% in applied STEM occupations. Removing the preference for female-dominated workplaces reduces female under-representation by 29% in applied-STEM majors and 85% in applied-STEM occupations. Equalizing wage offers in STEM sectors has a smaller effect (3% in majors and 10% in occupations). Mandating more high school STEM courses increases overall STEM participation but doesn't address the gender gap.
Award
2022-2023 Pilot grant ($18k) from the Population Aging Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania
Presentation
11/2023 Southern Economic Association, New Orleans, LA
“How Early Skill Gaps Contribute to Gender Differences in STEM Major and Occupation Choices: A Random Forest Approach,” with Petra Todd, submitted
In the US, women go to college at higher rates than men, but they are less likely to choose applied-STEM college majors or occupations. Using the NLSY79 and 97 datasets, this paper assesses the importance of adolescent skill profiles and high school course-taking in explaining gender disparities in four-year college completion, college major, and occupational choices. It considers five cognitive skill measures (math, verbal, science, administrative, and mechanical) and one non-cognitive measure and examines gender skill convergence over a twenty-year time span. Results show that high-school-aged women in the NLSY97 cohort reached parity with men, on average, in mathematics skills and exceed men in verbal and noncognitive skills, but they lag behind in mechanical and, to a lesser extent, science skills. To identify the skill sets, course-taking, and family background characteristics that best predict entry into STEM majors and occupations, we estimate logistic and nonparametric random forest models. The estimates reveal that a combination of mathematics and mechanical skills, along with intensive high school exposure to science and math courses, are key predictors of choosing STEM majors and careers. A nonparametric decomposition approach is developed and used to quantify how eliminating gender skill disparities would affect entry into STEM fields.
Award
2022-2023 Pilot grant ($18k) from the Population Aging Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania
Presentation
03/2023 Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis, Washington D.C.
01/2023 American Economic Association, New Orleans, Louisiana
11/2022 Southern Economic Association, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Work in Progress
“Unraveling the Female Thinness Premium: Marriage and Employment”
This paper studies two mechanisms that jointly contribute to thinness premium in the marriage market: the economic mechanism and the non-economic mechanism. My empirical findings from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) reveal that all else being equal, thinner females are more likely to marry richer males. A one-unit increase in BMI (Body Mass Index), roughly equivalent to a six-pound increase for a 5'6" figure, is associated with a 3.9% decrease in the husband's annual labor income for noncollege wives and a 4.3% decrease for college-educated wives. Using the Simulated Method of Moments to estimate a two-stage static matching equilibrium model, this paper determines whether the observed preference for thinner female partners in the marriage market is a result of assortative mating due to the thinness premium in the labor market or is driven by non-economic factors such as a preference for smaller body sizes or other traits associated with smaller body sizes, such as self-discipline, active social interactions, and positive social image. The estimation results indicate that the positive correlation between a husband's income and his wife's thinness is primarily attributed to a male preference for thinner spouses. Women with a BMI below 25 only earn 4% more income than those with a BMI above 25 (assuming all other factors are equal), but having a wife with a BMI below 25 significantly enhances a husband's utility, akin to a 1.15 times increase in his consumption.
Presentation
11/2022 Southern Economic Association, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
07/2022 Western Economic Association International, Portland, Oregon
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