Selected by stereotypes? The role of implicit and linguistic stereotypes for occupational gender segregation

Abstract

Why do women and men sort into dierent professions, even as gender equality in opportunity has increased? This paper turns to the role of stereotypes. Using implicit and linguistic stereotypes, I can predict the career expectations of the next generation to enter the labour market across 70 nations. I find that girls and boys expect occupations stereotyped in line with their birth gender, and are more likely to sort into sciences and the arts when exposed to stronger gender stereotypes. I further show the predictive power of stereotypes for dierences in comparative advantage and confidence, which in turn are channels of dierent career paths. These findings confirm the importance of the social environment for gender gaps in education and work, as well as the potential of linguistic stereotype measures for studying the impact of the social environment.