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When Women Learn That They Earn Less: The Gender Pay Gap in University Student Internships

Author

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  • Antoni, Manfred
  • Gerner, Hans-Dieter
  • Jäckle, Robert
  • Schwarz, Stefan

Abstract

Internships are an important and often mandatory part of academic education. They offer valuable insights into the labor market but can also expose students to negative aspects of the working world, such as gender pay disparities. Our paper provides first evidence of a gender pay gap in mandatory internships, with women earning up to 7% less per hour than men. Notably, this gap is not due to women choosing higher-quality internships over higher pay. Further analyses show that the internship pay gap is similar in magnitude to the labor market entry wage gap among graduates. We discuss potential mechanisms by which the internship pay gap may contribute to the graduation wage gap and present empirical evidence to support this.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoni, Manfred & Gerner, Hans-Dieter & Jäckle, Robert & Schwarz, Stefan, 2024. "When Women Learn That They Earn Less: The Gender Pay Gap in University Student Internships," MPRA Paper 122018, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:122018
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender Pay Gap; Internship; Higher Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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