Women at Work: Trends, new Perspectives and the Rise of Services

Women have made major inroads in labor markets throughout the past century, resulting in clear convergence in human capital investment and employment prospects and outcomes relative to men. However there are remaining gender differences in pay and employment levels, as well as in the types of activities that men and women perform in the labor market. Women's progress in the labor market has also led to major advances in labor economics, reflecting women's changing role in the economy and identifying the factors behind the remaining disparities with respect to men. This talk will discuss gender convergence in working hours, wages and occupational choice, and a number of explanations underlying these trends. Supply-side mechanisms for gender trends include include human capital investment, medical advances, technological progress in the household, and the availability of child care. Recent lines of research also emphasize the role of social norms regarding women's work in shaping gender outcomes, as well as gender differences in preferences and psychological traits potentially related to labor market success.