Gender differences in French undergraduates’ academic plans and wage expectations

ABSTRACT

Gender differences in wage expectations may affect investment in human capital and increase inequalities in the labour market. Our research based on a survey of first-year students at a French university aims to focus on expectations at the beginning of the career. Our results show that anticipated earnings differ significantly between men and women. One year after graduation, we find a gender gap in pay of 16%. A wage decomposition method indicates that most of this effect is due to anticipation of discrimination. Ten years after graduation, anticipated discrimination is still almost as dominant in explaining the gender gap in pay. Finally, using a survey of recent college graduates, we show that growth in the anticipated gender gap differs greatly from growth in the observed gender gap. Our findings highlight the importance of policies promoting higher educational aspirations for young women. Career guidance counselling for students may play a decisive role in contributing to give women more ambitious aspirations, which may in turn serve to reduce inequalities in the labour market.

KEYWORDS:

• Expected wages
• gender wage gap
• Oaxaca–Ransom decomposition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. From the administrative records of registered students of the University of Burgundy, we could verify that the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents were similar to that of non-respondents (cf. Lambert-Le Mener 2012).

2. Source: French national institute of statistics and economic studies (2010).

3. In addition, it is not sure that being from different universities is likely to be an important factor when making the comparisons.