Race and Gender Wage Gaps in the Market for Recent College Graduates
Author(s)
Weinberger, Catherine J.
Abstract
The persistence of racial and gender gaps in wages is a controversial and perplexing problem for economists. The gap between men and women has been closing but remains large. The gap between white and black men is even more problematic because it began to grow in the 1980s after diminishing for several years. Where some see evidence of discrimination, others see differences in productive characteristics, which remain to be measured. School quality and occupational preference are two characteristics cited as having a probable effect on wages, but which are difficult to measure with generally accessible labor market data. This article makes use of a unique data set to examine the influence on wages of the college attended and choice of major (as a proxy for occupational preference and skills acquired in college) for a sample of recent college graduates. Even with careful accounting for these and other productivity characteristics, evidence of discrimination persists.
