Self-reinforcing Glass Ceilings 
Gender gaps in labor outcomes are remarkably persistent. Women continue to earn substantially less than men (20 percent less on average), despite a convergence in education and work experience; they remain underrepresented in high-paying sectors; and they are less likely to sort into higher-paying sectors and firms over their life cycles. While the relevant literature points to factors such as workplace flexibility, systemic discrimination, and career costs associated with having a family to explain the persistence of the gender pay gap, this paper approaches the topic from a different, less explored perspective: It examines, theoretically and empirically, how labor markets respond when factors behind the pay gap subside and the gap narrows, and whether that response itself can perpetuate gender inequities.
Key Findings
- Labor markets respond to changes in the relative degree of gender equity across sectors in ways that counteract reductions in the gender pay gap: When the gender pay gap narrows in a specific sector, women are more likely than men to seek jobs in that sector, while men tend to readjust their search toward less equitable sectors.
- These compositional effects decrease female participation in less equitable sectors, which typically offer higher wages and reinforce gender stereotypes and social norms that contribute to the glass ceiling.
- Through these effects, the forces that reduce the gender pay gap at the bottom of the pay distribution also contribute to the persistence of gender inequities at the top.
Implications
The paper’s findings indicate why policy responses or market improvements involving just a single sector have a limited ability to close the gender pay gap. They highlight the need for comprehensive, cross-sectoral policy implementation to achieve meaningful progress. When targeting gender inequities broadly is infeasible, interventions that target sectors at the top of the income distribution could be more effective because they would not trigger the self-reinforcing mechanisms that this paper documents.
Abstract
After the gender pay gap narrows, what labor choices do men and women make? Several factors contribute to the persistence of the pay gap, such as workplace flexibility, systemic discrimination, and career costs of family. We show that how the labor market responds to the narrowing of the gap is just as pivotal for understanding this persistence. When the gender pay gap declines in a specific sector, women are relatively more likely to seek jobs in that sector, while men readjust their search to less equitable sectors. These compositional effects decrease female participation in less equitable sectors, which typically offer higher wages, reinforcing gender stereotypes and social norms that contribute to the glass ceiling. Through these effects, the same forces that reduce the gender pay gap at the bottom of the pay distribution also contribute to the persistence of gender inequities at the top. This self-reinforcing cycle underscores the need for reforms that are cross-sectoral and comprehensive to effectively achieve meaningful reductions in gender inequities across the labor market.