Arbeitspapier

The labor market returns to "first in family" university graduates

We examine how first in family (FiF) graduates (those whose parents do not have university degrees) fare on the labor market in England. We find that among women, FiF graduates earn 7.4% less on average than graduate women whose parents have a university degree. For men, we do not find a FiF wage penalty. A decomposition of the wage difference between FiF and non-FiF graduates reveals that FiF men earn higher returns on their endowments than non-FiF men and thus compensate for their relative social disadvantage, while FiF women do not. We also show that a substantial share of the graduate gender wage gap is due to, on the one hand, women being more likely to be FiF than men and, on the other hand, that the FiF wage gap is gendered. We provide some context, offer explanations, and suggest implications of these findings.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: CERS-IE Working Papers ; No. CERS-IE WP - 2021/27

Classification
Wirtschaft
Education and Inequality
Returns to Education
Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Subject
socioeconomic gaps
intergenerational educational mobility
higher education
labor market returns
gender economics

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna
Henderson, Morag
Shure, Nikki
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies
(where)
Budapest
(when)
2021

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET

Data provider

This object is provided by:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.

Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna
  • Henderson, Morag
  • Shure, Nikki
  • Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies

Time of origin

  • 2021

Other Objects (12)