Subject of degree and the gender wage gap: Evidence from Italy

This paper investigates the extent to which differences in the subject of degree studied by men and women contribute to the gender pay gap in Italy. Using micro-data from the “Survey of Household Income and Wealth” collected by Bank of Italy (1995-2006), we studied the evolution of the gender pay gap before and after 2000. We show that also in Italy like in other countries women are over-represented in Humanities while men in Engineering. We show that the gender wage gap has widened after 2000, especially in the private sector. Using Oaxaca decomposition (1973), we show that controlling for the type of degree accounts for about 42% of the “unexplained” component, and that represents about tot of the total pay gap. This effect is greater in the private than in the public sector