Gender Norms and the Gender Gap in Higher Education

Stefanie Huber and Hannah Paule-Paludkiewicz ()
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Hannah Paule-Paludkiewicz: Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt, Germany

No 253, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: Cross-country differences in the gender gap of higher education attainment are large. In this paper, we study the role of gender norms for this particular gender gap. To isolate the effect of gender norms from institutional and economic factors, we investigate the decisions of second-generation immigrants in the United States to achieve at least a bachelor’s degree. We measure gender norms using economic outcomes as well as beliefs prevailing in the migrants’ parents’ country of origin. We find that gender norms explain part of the observed differences in the gender gap in attaining at least a bachelor’s degree. There is also a sizable effect of gender norms on gender gaps in higher educational attainment levels, such as a master’s degree or a PhD. We confirm the gender norms effect using a sample of siblings, which allows us to hold unobservable and observable household characteristics constant.

Keywords: gender gap; tertiary education; gender norms; culture; second-generation migrants; sibling fixed effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 J15 J16 J24 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2023-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen, nep-lab and nep-mig
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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_253_2023.pdf First version, 2023 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Gender norms and the gender gap in higher education (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:253

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