Suchergebnisse

The distribution of college majors changed markedly between the 1970s and 1980s as fewer students completed degrees in low‐skill fields such as education and letters and more graduated in high‐skill fields such as engineering and business. This shift was most dramatic for females, who previously were concentrated in low‐skill fields relative to those of males. This paper examines how this education‐related skill upgrade, as represented by changes in the major distribution, affected the gender wage gap for college graduates during the 1980s. The results show that convergence in major distribution between males and females contributed to a decline in the gender wage gap for college graduates.

The authors investigate the relationship between high school quality and the probability of extended unemployment among noncollege‐bound men during three periods: the first two years, two to four years, and seven to nine years after high school. They find that larger high schools and schools with lower pupil–teacher ratios tend to decrease the probability of being unemployed for noncollege‐bound men in the period shortly after high school graduation. However, no effect is found of high school quality on unemployment probabilities approximately a decade after high school completion. (JEL I21, J64)