Up to 55 percent more per year Girls in female-dominated school classes earn more later on

Women earn more if they went to school in female-dominated classes as children. These are the findings of a study by the Universities of Basel and Durham based on data from 750,000 schoolchildren.

The social environment has a major influence on careers and wages from an early age. Girls in more feminine classes have better grades and are more likely to pursue career paths that are considered "typically male", the University of Basel announced on Thursday. At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55 percent share of girls earn 350 dollars more per year than women from classes with a 45 percent share of girls.

This means a reduction in the gender pay gap of 2.7 percent. The women not only earn more because they work in industries where wages are generally higher, they also earn more within the industry than women from a different school environment, the report continued.

The study published in the "American Economic Journal: Economic Policy" suspects that the network effect could play a role in this. According to the study, girls from female-dominated classes often attend the same secondary schools and universities and thus benefit from long-term contacts that can be of benefit to them in their professional lives. The researchers also suspect that there is less violence and different rivalry behavior in female-dominated classes.

According to the study, a negative effect in terms of later income can be observed in boys from a proportion of 55 percent girls.

The data for the study was taken from 750,000 pupils between the ages of 6 and 16 who completed compulsory schooling in Sweden between 1989 and 2002.

SDA