Gender Differences in the Early Career Outcomes of College Graduates: The Influence of Sex-Type of Degree Field Across Four Cohorts

The presence of baccalaureates who have specialized in fields not traditional for their gender represents the potential momentum each cohort may contribute to labor-force integration and equity. I examine the extent to which this momentum is present and realized among four cohorts of baccalaureates from the late 1970s through the late 2000s. The results show that the potential equalizing effects of increasing gender equity in postsecondary education are not being fully developed or realized. Gender segregation of majors remains significant, and labor-market outcomes continue to be strongly associated with the sex type of a college graduate's degree field. The negative relationship between female representation in a major and both the rate of full-time employment and earnings persisted across the four cohorts, and the negative gradient for earnings intensified. Educational use is slightly depressed among graduates in fields not traditional for their gender, and gender differences in earnings are already sizable within a year of graduation