The Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education: Exploring its Consequences for Partnering, Employment and Voting Behaviour

Summary, in English

Women have made substantial gains in education and outperform men regarding educational attainment across the OECD, but the consequences of this reversal of the gender gap in education (RGE) have not been well researched. We address the association between the RGE and partnering, employment, and support for a right-wing populist party in Sweden. We explore the differential impacts of women's educational advancements versus men's lagging by using cross-sectional register data and within-areal age variation in RGE. Results show that RGE is negatively associated with partnering and employment prospects among individuals with a low level of education. Results suggest that men's educational disadvantage may contribute to growing support for right-wing populist parties and that shifting gender gaps in education may foster frustration in various areas of life and anti-egalitarian values.

• Author: Martin Nordin; Maria Stanfors
• Department/s: Department of Economic History; Centre for Economic Demography; AgriFood Economics Centre, Lund University School of Economics and Management; Department of Economics; LU Profile Area: Proactive Ageing
• Publishing year: 2024-11
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: IZA Discussion Papers
• Issue: IZA DP No. 17437
• Links: https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/17437/the-reversal-of-the-gender-gap-in-education-exploring-its-consequences-for-partnering-employment-and-voting-behaviour
• Document type: Working paper
• Publisher: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics
• Topic: Economics; Gender Studies
• Keywords: gender gap in education; partnership; employment; political opinion; J12; I24; Z13
• Status: Published
• Project: Educational assortative mating and inequality. Consequences of changing family dynamics in Sweden, 1970-2020