The Gender Earnings Gap Among Recent Post-Secondary Graduates, 1984-92

Abstract

This study attempts to compare the earnings of men and women on an equal footing by concentrating on recent post-secondary graduates and using survey data on a number of earnings- related characteristics. The data cover three graduating classes of university and community college students: 1982, 1986 and 1990. These data indicate that the gender earnings gap among graduates has narrowed in recent years. In fact among the most recent class, we found that female university graduates are rewarded slightly better than their male counterparts after controlling for experience, job tenure, education and hours of work. A small gender gap persists among community college graduates: about three-and-a-half percent on an hourly wage basis. For all graduates, the earnings gap tended to increase with age, even after controlling for previous work experience.