IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hit/hituec/710.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Still Separate in STEM? Trends in Sex Segregation by Field of Study in Japan, 1975-2019

Author

Listed:
  • Uchikoshi, Fumiya
  • Mugiyama, Ryota
  • Oguro, Megumi

Abstract

There is much evidence to suggest that the gender wage gap in Japan is one of the highest in rich countries, while gender inequality in education at the vertical level is becoming increasingly equalized. A small number of studies suggest that the remaining gender gap can be attributed to horizontal segregation with respect to field of study, particularly female underrepresentation in STEM fields, and little is known about trends in sex segregation by field in Japan specifically. By using publicly available education statistics, the current study investigates these trends from 1975 through 2019. We paid particular attention to (1) different trends in non-STEM, STEM, and health fields, and (2) heterogeneity across national, public, and private institutions. The results of applying Duncan's dissimilarity index to 68 fields of study among four-year university students reveal that the overall trend in sex segregation in field of study has decreased over the 45 years by 43%. We also found that trends differ based on both institutional characteristics of universities and academic field, as the declining segregation trend is mainly driven by the massive integration of men and women in non-STEM fields in private institutions. The declining trend in segregation has been slow in recent years, especially at national and public institutions. We explored potential mechanisms for these stalling trends, and suggest that the driving forces are (1) a slower integration of women in STEM fields and (2) a rise in segregation in health fields. These results provide support for the theory of a stalled gender revolution in Japan. This study concludes that the desegregation may not be linked to the gender equality in the labor market, and that horizontal segregation may even increase because of the growing demand for the workforce to deal with population aging in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Uchikoshi, Fumiya & Mugiyama, Ryota & Oguro, Megumi, 2020. "Still Separate in STEM? Trends in Sex Segregation by Field of Study in Japan, 1975-2019," Discussion Paper Series 710, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
  • Handle: RePEc:hit:hituec:710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/31098/DP710.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brown, Charles & Corcoran, Mary, 1997. "Sex-Based Differences in School Content and the Male-Female Wage Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 431-465, July.
    2. Machin, Stephen & Puhani, Patrick A., 2003. "Subject of degree and the gender wage differential: evidence from the UK and Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 393-400, June.
    3. Miyoshi, Koyo, 2008. "Male-female wage differentials in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 479-496, December.
    4. Kazuo Yamaguchi, 2019. "Gender Inequalities in the Japanese Workplace and Employment," Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, Springer, number 978-981-13-7681-8, February.
    5. Albert Esteve & Joan García-Román & Iñaki Permanyer, 2012. "The Gender-Gap Reversal in Education and Its Effect on Union Formation: The End of Hypergamy?," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 38(3), pages 535-546, September.
    6. Hara, Hiromi, 2018. "The gender wage gap across the wage distribution in Japan: Within- and between-establishment effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 213-229.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2013. "Population Average Gender Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 7315, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Alan Manning & Joanna Swaffield, 2008. "The gender gap in early-career wage growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(530), pages 983-1024, July.
    3. Caliendo, Marco & Lee, Wang-Sheng & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2017. "The gender wage gap and the role of reservation wages: New evidence for unemployed workers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 161-173.
    4. Hübler, Olaf, 2003. "Geschlechtsspezifische Lohnunterschiede (Gender-specific wage differentials)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 36(4), pages 539-559.
    5. Ahu Gemici & Matthew Wiswall, 2014. "Evolution Of Gender Differences In Post‐Secondary Human Capital Investments: College Majors," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(1), pages 23-56, February.
    6. Dominique Meurs & Sophie Ponthieux, 2006. "L'écart des salaires entre les femmes et les hommes peut-il encore baisser ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 398(1), pages 99-129.
    7. Napari, Sami, 2006. "The early career gender wage gap," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19844, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Peggy Bechara, 2012. "Gender Segregation and Gender Wage Differences during the Early Labour Market Career," Ruhr Economic Papers 0352, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Hübler, Olaf, 2003. "Geschlechtsspezifische Lohnunterschiede (Gender-specific wage differentials)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 36(4), pages 539-559.
    10. Sami Napari, 2006. "The Early Career Gender Wage Gap," CEP Discussion Papers dp0738, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Nils Braakmann, 2008. "Non scholae, sed vitae discimus! - The importance of fields of study for the gender wage gap among German university graduates during labor market entry and the first years of their careers," Working Paper Series in Economics 85, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    12. Jan Van Bavel, 2012. "The reversal of gender inequality in education, union formation and fertility in Europe," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 10(1), pages 127-154.
    13. Noe', Chiara, 2009. "Subject of degree and the gender wage gap: Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 47289, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Julia Philipp, 2023. "Gendered university major choice: the role of intergenerational transmission," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 1049-1097, April.
    15. repec:zbw:rwirep:0352 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Braakmann Nils, 2010. "Fields of Training, Plant Characteristics and the Gender Wage Gap in Entry Wages Among Skilled Workers – Evidence from German Administrative Data," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 230(1), pages 27-41, February.
    17. Bechara, Peggy, 2012. "Gender Segregation and Gender Wage Differences during the Early Labour Market Career," Ruhr Economic Papers 352, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    18. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2015. "Average Wage Gaps and Oaxaca–Blinder Decompositions," IZA Discussion Papers 9036, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Lin, Eric S., 2010. "Gender wage gaps by college major in Taiwan: Empirical evidence from the 1997-2003 Manpower Utilization Survey," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 156-164, February.
    20. Livanos, Ilias & Pouliakas, Konstantinos, 2009. "The Gender Wage Gap as a Function of Educational Degree Choices in an Occupationally Segregated EU Country," IZA Discussion Papers 4636, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Braakmann Nils, 2013. "What Determines Wage Inequality Among Young German University Graduates?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 233(2), pages 130-158, April.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hit:hituec:710. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hiromichi Miyake (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iehitjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.