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All about the money? The gendered effect of education on industrial and occupational sorting

Lepinteur, Anthony and Nieto Castro, Adrian LU (2025) In Labour Economics 92.
Abstract
Using the 1972 UK compulsory education reform as a natural experiment, we investigate the impact of education on occupational and industrial sorting through Quarterly Labour Force Surveys. Higher education levels increase the likelihood of men working in public administration and non-manual occupations. For women, it leads to a higher probability of employment in health and education industries. The shift of men towards non-manual occupations significantly boosts earnings, while the impact on women’s earnings is more limited. These findings echo gender differences in job characteristic preferences we show using UK International Social Survey Programme data. Men prioritise pecuniary aspects, while women prioritise pro-social aspects of... (More)
Using the 1972 UK compulsory education reform as a natural experiment, we investigate the impact of education on occupational and industrial sorting through Quarterly Labour Force Surveys. Higher education levels increase the likelihood of men working in public administration and non-manual occupations. For women, it leads to a higher probability of employment in health and education industries. The shift of men towards non-manual occupations significantly boosts earnings, while the impact on women’s earnings is more limited. These findings echo gender differences in job characteristic preferences we show using UK International Social Survey Programme data. Men prioritise pecuniary aspects, while women prioritise pro-social aspects of their jobs. Importantly, greater education does not reduce these disparities in job preferences. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Labour Economics
volume
92
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85213824148
ISSN
0927-5371
DOI
10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102670
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d91cdc7b-9d00-4251-93a8-f3a67aa9fc04
date added to LUP
2025-03-18 16:48:44
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:42:50
@article{d91cdc7b-9d00-4251-93a8-f3a67aa9fc04,
  abstract     = {{Using the 1972 UK compulsory education reform as a natural experiment, we investigate the impact of education on occupational and industrial sorting through Quarterly Labour Force Surveys. Higher education levels increase the likelihood of men working in public administration and non-manual occupations. For women, it leads to a higher probability of employment in health and education industries. The shift of men towards non-manual occupations significantly boosts earnings, while the impact on women’s earnings is more limited. These findings echo gender differences in job characteristic preferences we show using UK International Social Survey Programme data. Men prioritise pecuniary aspects, while women prioritise pro-social aspects of their jobs. Importantly, greater education does not reduce these disparities in job preferences.}},
  author       = {{Lepinteur, Anthony and Nieto Castro, Adrian}},
  issn         = {{0927-5371}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Labour Economics}},
  title        = {{All about the money? The gendered effect of education on industrial and occupational sorting}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102670}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102670}},
  volume       = {{92}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}