Gender gap in reservation wages and the choice of education field

Abstract

ABSTRACT I examine the gap in reservation wages between men and women who enter the labour market for the first time and link it to the choice of education field by gender. Using data from 2006 to 2015 Labour Force Survey for Poland, I show that men and women with the same education value their qualifications differently, which points to behavioural differences by gender. The gender difference in returns to education fields is found to be the single most important predictor of the gender gap in reservation wages. Women educated in mathematics, IT and physics are found to report higher reservation wages than other women and there is no difference in pay expectations between them and men. The results contribute to the discussion on the importance of a higher presence of women in STEM fields as a way of achieving greater gender equality in the labour markets.