Training, work experience, and the earnings of men and women scientists
This study examines the influence of training and work experience on the earnings of scientists and engineers and measures the effect of different kinds of training and work experience on earnings of scinetists and engineers, with separate estimates developed for men and women. The study focuses on the role of training and work experience differences in determining the relative earnings of men and women. Three surveys of recent graduates in science and engineering conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1978, 1979, and 1980 are combined to produce estimates of the percent of time devoted to different work activities, by college major and sex. Surveys of experienced scientists and engineers, also conducted for NSF, are used to estimate the effects of a variety of different work activity and training measures on earnings, by sex. Throughout, the analysis is restricted to scientists and engineers below the Ph.D. level who were employed fulltime at the time of the surveys. It was found that training and work experience are significantly related to scientists' earnings, and are important determinants of the earnings gap between experienced men and women scientists. The contribution to the sex differential in earnings comes not from a difference in the return to training and experience received by men and women scientists but rather from the fact that women have fewer years of professional experience than men and spend less of their careers in management activities. Unemployment rates were calculated excluding those of the unemployed who indicated that their job search was restricted by geographic location, family responsibilities, or need for part-time employment. The unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for males and 1.2 percent for females, virtually eliminating the sex differential in unemployment rates. This has implications for the design of affirmative action programs, discussed in the Appendix.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Inc., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76OR00033
- OSTI ID:
- 5472179
- Report Number(s):
- ORAU-193; ON: DE82007564
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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