Gender Differences in Occupational Aspirations, Occupational Choices and Returns to Skills: Evidence from the Philippines

This paper explores the relationship between occupational choices, occupational aspirations and the wage return to skills. I focus on the skill content of occupations. Occupational choices are endogenous regressors in any wage... [ view full abstract ]

This paper explores the relationship between occupational choices, occupational aspirations and the wage return to skills. I focus on the skill content of occupations. Occupational choices are endogenous regressors in any wage equation. This paper implements an instrumental variables identification strategy, by using occupational aspirations as an instrument for occupational choices. I instrument the importance of math skills for a worker's chosen occupation during her early twenties with the importance of math skills for the occupation to which the same individual aspired to during her adolescence.

The paper combines public data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, a longitudinal study from the Philippines, with novel data collected from Filipino industrial psychologists. The industrial psychologists rated the skill content of 292 occupations on four dimensions: reading, writing, speaking and math.

There is a different pattern of occupational choices and aspirations by gender. There is a positive correlation between the skill content of men's occupational aspirations and occupational choices. Women in the sample worked in occupations with a higher skill content when compared to men. However, there is a mismatch between the occupational aspirations and the occupational choices of women. It is harder for women to achieve their occupational aspiration.