Gender, Education and Socioeconomic Status: Economic Theories, Credentialism and Beyond

Human capital theory, market signalling theory and credentialism are explored as ways of explaining the relationship between formal education and socioeconomic status. For both men and women, years of schooling and diplomas or degrees help to ensure access to high-skill jobs which carry high socioeconomic status. The market signalling approach is relevant for men because skills, are positively associated with socioeconomic status: employers value diplomas and degrees if they indicate that employees bring high skill levels to the labour market. The market signalling approach is not confirmed for women in this study. Some economists suggest that human capital theory is limited because it assumes women make voluntary choices to limit their education and job experience in favour of family responsibilities. Credentialism, by discounting the importance of skills acquired in school, ignores the issue of gender-based power differences that are related to skills. New theories are needed to address the issues of work and family commitments for both women and men.