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Gender Gaps in Education

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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

This chapter reviews the growing body of research in economics which concentrates on the education gender gap and its evolution, over time and across countries. The survey first focuses on gender differentials in the historical period that roughly goes from 1850 to the 1940s and documents the deep determinants of the early phase of female education expansion, including preindustrial conditions, religion, and family and kinship patterns. Next, the survey describes the stylized facts of contemporaneous gender gaps in education, from the 1950s to the present day, accounting for several alternative measures of attainment and achievement and for geographic and temporal differentiations. The determinants of the gaps are then summarized, while keeping a strong emphasis on an historical perspective and disentangling factors related to the labor market, family formation, psychological elements, and societal cultural norms. A discussion follows of the implications of the education gender gap for multiple realms, from economic growth to family life, taking into account the potential for reverse causation. Special attention is devoted to the persistency of gender gaps in the STEM and economics fields.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEPR, CHILD, DGI, EIEF, GLO and IZA, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Graziella Bertocchi

  2. University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Monica Bozzano

Authors
  1. Graziella Bertocchi
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  2. Monica Bozzano
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Correspondence to Graziella Bertocchi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. School of Economics and International Business, Centre for Pluralist Economics, Faculty of Business and Law, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  2. University of Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  3. Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Nick Drydakis

  4. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany

    Nick Drydakis

  5. Global Labor Organization, Essen, Germany

    Nick Drydakis

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Bertocchi, G., Bozzano, M. (2020). Gender Gaps in Education. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_26-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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