On the Regional Labour Market Determinants of Female University Enrolment in Europe

Abstract

for their comments. A special thank to Juan José Dolado for his suggestions and all the time devoted to comment on our paper. Pronzato acknowledges funding from the ERC (StG-201194). All the remaining errors are ours. 1 AbstractWe empirically investigate the local labor market determinants of female decisions of investing in post-secondary education, focusing on the role of career interruptions and barriers to job promotions. We use EU-Silc data on educational decisions of women who completed secondary schooling. We construct indicators of the regional labor market, and exploit regional and time variability to identify how female educational investments react to changes in local labor markets. We find that the share of working women with children below 5, of women with managerial positions and self-employed positively affect the probability to enrol. The same does not hold for men.

Women at Work: An International Perspective on the Interconnected Forces of Human Development, Female Education, and Labour Force Participation

“…Furthermore, this is supported by the scatter portrayed for Spain, as it shows a positive in uence between variables. This is supported by Casarico et al (2016). It says a strong and positive correlation exists between female participation in post-secondary education.…”

“…Compared to all other continents in the universe, Europe has the highest HDI, with a signi cant and overwhelming preponderance over the global average (Kpolovie et al 2017). Higher HDI-scoring European countries, like Norway and Sweden, also have more stable economies and better access to education, which creates an environment that encourages more elevated rates of female labour force participation (Casarico et al 2016). Altogether, the correlation between territory school enrolments and HDI highlights how signi cant education and socio-economic advancement is in shaping the participation of women in the labour force in Europe.…”

“…Moreover, this study advances knowledge regarding the possible in uence of local labour market circumstances on women's decisions to enrol in post-secondary education. This is a signi cant problem, particularly in nations with a dearth of human capital (Casarico et al 2016). According to the results, actions to enhance the local labour market for women workers may positively affect women's decisions to pursue further education (Casarico et al 2016).…”

The role of local labour market conditions and pupil attainment on post-compulsory schooling decisions

“…For example, Vella (1994) shows that females’ attitudes towards traditional gender roles significantly affect their human capital investment, labour supply and rates of return to education. In the same vein, Casarico et al (2016) using EUSILC suggest that female decisions to enrol in tertiary education are impacted by female-specific factors, such as the share of women with managerial positions. Similarly, van Van Hek et al (2016) show that higher level of female labour market participation improves women’s performance in education, suggesting that economically active women may function as role models encouraging young girls to pursue an educational and professional career, whereas high levels of religiosity during that phase negatively affect women’s educational attainment.…”

Gender Gaps in Education

“…A potential mechanism shaping such norms can be found in the process of socialization within the family, and in particular in parents' preferences for boys (Dossi et al 2019). Furthermore, traditional opinions held by women regarding the role of women in the labor market are shown to be developed in youth and to result in reductions in their human capital investment (Vella 1994), while young women's decisions to invest in higher education are affected by the labor market outcomes of older women living in the same region: where career opportunities for women with young children are wider and more women reach top positions, the incentives for younger women are stronger (Casarico et al 2015). Even the contribution of a biological factor such as prenatal testosterone, measured by comparing in-utero exposure for twinswith girls with a twin brother scoring lower in math compared to girls with a twin sisteris believed to manifest itself through environmental factors related to adherence to traditional gender norms, rather than through biology itself (Gielen and Zwiers 2018).…”