Gender and wages: a cohort study of primary school teachers

Abstract

This study uses cohort data to analyse the observed (or gross) salary differential between male and female primary school teachers. The teachers in this sample, who are all employed in state-sector schools in the same geographic locality, are observed 20 years after first entering the teaching profession. The main finding is that two-fifths of the differential cannot be explained by gender differences in the levels of experience, qualification and mobility within our sample and so is attributed to labour market discrimination and other unobservable gender influences.