Estimados Académicos y Académicas FEN,

Les extendemos la invitación al seminario que organiza el Departamento de Economía, en el que se presentará el trabajo titulado "Joining the Men’s Club: Effects of pursuing high-earnings male-dominated fields for women".

Expone: Josefa Aguirre, Profesora Asistente, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Co-autores: Juan Matta, Ana María Montoya

Abstract: Women continue to be underrepresented in the high-earnings fields of Technology and Engineering (TE). This article investigates the consequences for women of majoring in TE as opposed to in humanities, arts, and social science (HASS). We combine administrative records on college application and enrollment to data on labor earnings, marriage and fertility, and exploit discontinuities in admission generated by Chile’s centralized college application system. We find that enrollment in TE as opposed to in HASS increases men’s earnings and employment by 81% and 30% by ages 29 to 38, but has no effect on women. In contrast, majoring in other high-earnings fields such as business or health with higher female participation improves labor market outcomes for both men and women. We explore three explanations for this result. First, women who enroll in TE are less likely than men to get a degree in TE. Second, enrollment in TE increases men’s, but not women’s access to jobs in masculine industries such as mining and construction, as well as in higher-paying and more distant firms. Third, childbearing appears to be more costly for women in TE than in HASS. In addition, we find little evidence of positive marriage market returns for women of majoring in TE.

El formato será presencial y el seminario se desarrollará en la Sala P-304.

Saludos cordiales,

Dirección de Investigación