Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Evidence From Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Using a quantitative research approach, this study aims at investigating the wage returns and the gender wage gap of Trinidad and Tobago’s minority groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. To do this, data from the Continuous Sample Survey of Population (CSSP), for the period 1991–2015, is used to estimate a Mincerian earnings function via the quantile regression method, after which the standard Oaxaca–Blinder Decomposition method is employed to decompose the wage differentials. This analysis revealed that regardless of ethnic class (i.e. minority group [persons who are of mixed, white, Syrian/Lebanese, Chinese, and other heritage] or majority group [persons of an Indian and African heritage]), there are more men trained in STEM than women. While the average earnings of female minority workers in STEM are higher than that of male minority workers, the earnings of male majority workers are higher than that of female majority workers. The gender wage gap between minority workers in STEM appears to be much more prominent (9.8%) than that of majority workers (8.5%). This implies that the issue of gender inequality in STEM is more pronounced amongst minority workers in Trinidad and Tobago.