Segregation in fields of specialization: the case of Economics

Project Details

Description

The project Segregation in fields of specialization: the case of Economics is a research proposal to be elaborated during the secondment of the researcher at the University of Arizona during the 2016/2017 academic year. The objectives of this initiative are three-fold. They include (i) research actions, (ii) capacity building, and (iii) networking.
The primary goals of the visit are research actions. the project will seek to examine gender differences in the choice of fields of specialization in the quantitative and relatively abstract fields of economics. our contribution would be to understand what is driving the gender segregation in fields of economic specialization (wages or non-economic factors). The project can be expected to shed light on the larger issue of gender segregation in the labor market, especially as it applies more broadly to the under representation of women in the STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering and Mathematics) and other highly qualified fields.
In order to answer our questions a database will be crated with a focus on salaries ind fields of specialization withe the help of multi-center data collection efforts. Having data on salaries and field of specialization is vital in being able to assess the relative importance of wages differences and preferences.
Within this project we will 1) elaborate on the modeling and econometric estimation of process specialization 2) estimate the wage premium across fields 3) create a unique dataset that will benefit researchers and the community of social scientists as a whole not only to be used in further analysis, but also to guide policy at the academic level and beyond. The research output of this project will be two papers, a database, and a technical document.
The second and third objective of the visit is the enhance the research potential and outreach of the seconded fellow (and consequently the researchers in that research domain at LISER and in Luxembourg) and international reputation of LISER. This will be done by strengthening current and establishing new ties with the Department of Economics at the University of Arizona, as well as refining the methodological know-how and understanding in the analysis of labor market segregation and labor market inequalities. There is the potential of joint supervision of PhD students and it is worth mentioning that the seconded fellow is discussing other follow-up project ideas with Arizona that could be developed during her secondment, which would provide for a long-term co-operation and provide opportunities for the integration of other researchers from LISER in this network. upon return to LISER the fellow can work on developing more formal agreements in this area.
AcronymECONSPEZ
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/09/1631/08/17

Keywords

  • Specialization
  • Wages
  • Inequality
  • Wage premium
  • Economics