Today's educational policymakers must make decisions concerning institutional access within the context of unprecedented success in schooling on the part of girls and young women. While much discussion has focused on gendered patterns of educational participation and accomplishment that favor women, little research has explored the consequences of these patterns for gender inequality in the labor market. This dissertation begins to fill this void by exploring the relationship between gender, higher education, and gender gaps in income early in workers' careers.
Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72), High School and Beyond (HS and B), and National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), I compare the gender income differential for young workers (in their mid to late twenties) in 1979, 1991, and 1999. I find persistent gender earnings disparities that narrow in the 1980s and show signs of rebounding in the 1990s, most pronouncedly for workers without bachelor degrees. Analyses based on Estimated Generalized Least Squares regression and regression decomposition techniques suggest that for the college educated, gender composition of field of study is an important source of earnings inequality throughout the closing decades of the 20th century. And its importance for perpetuating gender differences in earnings among the college educated is growing. For those without a bachelor's degree, educational characteristics seem to matter little for mediating gender earnings differences. Regardless of educational level, employment-related factors are the primary contributor to the gender income gap at the end of the millennium.
Using change over time decompositions, I find that women's increased participation in higher education contributes to the overall decline of the gender income gap in the closing decades of the 20th century. Furthermore, for workers with at least a bachelor's degree, changes in the gender composition of college majors work to decrease the income gap between 1979 and 1999. This is the mean-level change that is most important for reducing earnings disparities over this time period.
The findings suggest that higher education plays important roles in both alleviating and perpetuating gender inequality. By increasing their participation in higher education and integrating fields of study, women are able to narrow the gap between their earnings and men's. However, educational factors are becoming increasingly important for perpetuating what remains of the gender income differential. In particular, the gender composition of college majors has grown in importance for earnings inequities between women and men. By reorienting our thinking to the consequences of gendered patterns of educational success, this work should inform policymakers of the need to continue efforts to integrate fields of study.