The gender gap in pre-career salary expectations: a test of five explanations

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender gap in pre-career salary expectations. Five major explanations are tested to explain the gap, as well as understand the relative contribution of each explanation. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected from 452 post-secondary students from Canada. Findings -Young women had lower initial and peak salary expectations than their male counterparts. The gap in peak salary could be explained by initial salary expectations, beta values, the interaction between beta values and gender, and estimations of the value of the labor market. Men and women in this study expected to earn a considerably larger peak salary than they expected for others. Research limitations/implications -Cross-sectional data cannot infer causality, and the Canadian sample may not be generalizable to other countries given that an economic downturn occurred at time of data collection. Research should continue to investigate how individuals establish initial salary expectations, while also testing more dynamic models given the interaction effect found in terms of gender and work values in explaining salary expectations. Practical implications -The majority of the gender gap in peak salary expectations can be explained by what men and women expect to earn immediately after graduation. Further, women and men have different perceptions of the value they attribute to the labor market and what might be a fair wage, especially when considering beta work values. Social implications -The data suggests that the gender-wage gap is likely to continue and that both young men and women would benefit from greater education and information with respect to the labor market and what they can reasonably expect to earn, not just initially, but from a long-term perspective. Originality/value -This study is the first to simultaneously investigate five theoretical explanations for the gender gap in pre-career expectations.

Gender Pay Gap: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Effect of Workplace Entitlement on Pay Differences

“…How MEE scale scores correlate with measures of locus of control is an area requiring future study. The results in salary estimations also contradict with the previous literature 19, 20 that males have a higher salary expectation than females. This lack of sex differences in salary expectations could be the product of the changing demographics in the sample since the majority of the participants are "Generation Z", and this particular generation may exhibit different attitudes toward gender inequality compared to earlier other generations.…”

Experiential learning in high energy physics: a survey of students at the LHC

“…This theory has been empirically validated by demonstrating that perceptions at pre-career level strongly affect subsequent salary increases (Fernandez-Mateo, 2009;Keaveny and Inderrieden, 2000). Starting and end-career salary expectations are, thus, used as dependent variables in our analysis (see also Schweitzer et al, 2014).…”

“…Drawing on contemporary research on salary expectations (Frick and Maihaus, 2016;Schweitzer et al, 2014;Maihaus, 2014) and on science (mainly, physics) graduates marketability (Islam at al., 2015;Nielsen, 2014;IOP-Institute of Physics, 2012;Jusoh et al 2011;Hazari et al, 2010;Sharma et al, 2008), we identified the following four sets of independent variables. Set 1.…”

Graduate Student Placement: An Examination of Experience and Career Barriers in a Student Affairs Professional Preparation Program

“…While men and women did not significantly differ in their responses, the evidence suggests that financial considerations, be it salary or cost of living based on location, are proportionately more frequently concerns for men, yet still important for women. While no previous research in the field of student affairs has examined this specifically, general research on salary expectations of men and women suggests that men have far greater expectations for their starting salary and perhaps less access to accurate information about salaries than women (Schweitzer, Lyons, Kuron, & Ng, 2014). This provides additional evidence to support open and candid conversations about entry level salary expectations within the early stages of the program.…”