Self-selection in choice of occupation:family and gender issues

Magdalena Smyk

University of Warsaw

Doctoral thesis presentation28th February 2017

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Gender differences in occupation

Why is it interesting?

common and prevailing phenomenon(Goldin, 2013, 2014; Blau et al. 2013)

contributes to explain gender wage differences(World Development Report, 2012)

external barriers fail to explain it(Bush and Holst 2011; Blau et al. 1998, 2013)

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Motivation

Gender differences in the choice of occupation:

preferencesscientifically unsatisfactory explanation(Becker 1996, Argwal 2000)

traits (risk aversion, competitiveness, altruism, etc.)(Holt and Laury 2005, Niederle and Vesterlund 2011, Andreoni 1989)

small explanatory power

nature or nurture?(Finucane et al. 2000, Gneezy et al. 2009)

still unresolved

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Thesis

The role of parents:

inheritance of a profession(Laband and Lentz 1990, Korupp et al. 2002)

transmission of gender norms - a literature gap

Main hypothesis

Parents’ gender norms influence their children’s choices of educationand occupation.

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Contribution

extension of choice of occupation model (gender identity concept)(Roy 1951, Akerlof and Kranton 2010, Humlum et al. 2012)

first empirical test of the intergenerational transmission of:

gender intensity of the occupation (norms)CONFIRMEDgender beliefs related to educationCONFIRMED

study on gender norms related to housework division

+ proposed measure of gender intensity in an occupation

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Measure of gender intensity in an occupation

FemOcc Index

FemOcci,t =share of womeni,tshare of woment

,

where i – narrow occupational group, t – year

representation measure ⇒ data requirements

American Community Survey provides the largest consistently coded sample

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Measure of gender intensity in an occupation

FemOcc Index

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Measure of gender intensity in an occupation

FemOcc Index

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Measure of gender intensity in an occupation

FemOcc Index

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Study 1: Transmission of norms related to the choice of occupation

Do parents transmit gender norms related to choice ofoccupation to their children?

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Transmission of norms related to the choice of occupation

FemOcci = α + β1 Father′s FemOcc + β2 Mother ′s FemOcci + γ Xi + εi

VariablesDependent variable: gender intensity of the occupation of an individual i(FemOcci )

Independent variables:

Father ′s FemOcc - gender intensity of i ’s father occupationMother ′s FemOcc - gender intensity of i ’s mother occupation

Control variables (Xi ): gender, education, education of parents, birth year,race, siblings order

Data: Panel Study of Income Dynamics 1968-2013 merged with measures ofFemOcci from ACS

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Transmission of norms related to choice of occupation

What do we expect?

Correlation between FemOcc indexes of:

father and son - positive

mother and son - negative (but possibly weaker)

mother and daughter - positive

father and daughter - negative

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Transmission of norms related to choice of occupation

Total Without Only Only differentsample the same siblings gender

occupation siblings

FATHER - SON 0.056*** 0.042** 0.048*** 0.071***(0.017) (0.017) (0.018) (0.022)

MOTHER - SON -0.046* -0.041 -0.040 -0.053*(0.025) (0.025) (0.027) (0.032)

MOTHER - DAUGHTER 0.050*** 0.064* 0.070* 0.041**(0.035) (0.034) (0.037) (0.043)

FATHER - DAUGHTER 0.000** 0.000* -0.004** -0.002***(0.023) (0.023) (0.024) (0.028)

Observations 7,868 7,661 6,880 5,038

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Summary of Study 1

Robustness checks:

The timing of parents’ occupations

Placebo tests

Do parents transmit gender norms related to choice of occupation to theirchildren?

Results:

Transmission from father to sons - confirmed

Transmission from mother to sons - rejected

Transmission to daughters - more complex

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Study 2: Transmission of gender beliefs

Do parents’ gender beliefs related to education correlate withchildren’s occupational plans?

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Transmission of gender beliefs

P(STEM = 1|Xi ) = α + β1OwnBeliefsi + β2Parents′ Beliefsi + γXi + εi

VariablesDependent variable: pupil plans to work in STEM occupation(P(STEM = 1|Xi )) (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

Independent variables:

OwnBeliefsi - pupil believes that boys are better in mathParents ′ Beliefsi - parents believe that boys are better in math

Control variables (Xi ): GPA in math, parents occupations, race, schoolcontrols

Data: High School Longitudinal Study 2009

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Transmission of gender beliefs

What do we expect?

Effects of own and parents’ beliefs on probability to plan STEM occupation is:

positive - for boys

negative - for girls

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Transmission of gender beliefs

Chance of choosing occupation within STEM

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Summary of Study 2

Robustness checks:

Various measurements of gender beliefs

Science (rather than math)

Do parents’ gender beliefs related to education correlate with children’soccupational plans?

Results:

Parents and children share gender related beliefs

Gender beliefs affect occupational plans

Parent’s gender beliefs effect is stronger than

subjective factors (own beliefs)objective factors (GPA)

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Conclusions

Main findings:

Parents play significant role for their children’s choice of occupation:

For sons father’s gender norms related with occupation matters, but mother’sdo notFor daughters transmission of gender norms is more complexChildren tend to share parents’ gender beliefsParents’ gender beliefs influence children’s occupational plans

Contribution to the literature:

Addressing Akerlof and Kranton (2010) theory of where gender norms relatedto choice of occupation come from

First empirical confirmation of parents role in choice of occupation andeducation

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Thank you for your attention

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Theoretical background

Roy’s choice of occupation model (1951)

Gender identity (Akerlof and Kranton 2000, 2010)

Choice of occupation (Humlum et al. 2012)

Uj = Uj(wj(εj , εj)), εj , Ij(εj , cj , εj ,P)),

where wj(εj , εj) - wage in occupation εj , εj - individual characteristics, cj - socialcategory (gender), P - gender norms

Operationalize P - gender norms as a function of j and parents (p)

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Theoretical background - extension

How the gender norms are shaped?

Pj = Pj(aj , a−j , cj , εj ,Pj,p),

where aj - actions of individual j , a−j - actions of other people, cj - gender, εj -individual characteristics, Pj,p - parents’ gender norms

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