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dc.titleGender Gaps in STEM Occupations in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico
dc.contributor.authorCuberes, David
dc.contributor.authorSaravia, Florencia
dc.contributor.authorTeignier, Marc
dc.contributor.orgunitCountry Department Central America, Haiti, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic
dc.coverageCosta Rica
dc.coverageEl Salvador
dc.coverageMexico
dc.coverageCentral America
dc.date.available2022-11-30T00:11:00
dc.date.issue2022-11-30T00:11:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper documents the existence of significant gender gaps in STEM occupations in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico and estimates the aggregate costs associated with these gaps in Mexico. For Mexico we calibrate and simulate a version of the general equilibrium occupational choice model of Hsieh et al. (2019) to estimate the output losses associated with these differences since 1992. We find that if barriers in STEM occupations were eliminated aggregate output would have been between 1% and 10% larger, depending on the year. If female-specific social norms were also eliminated, the rise in aggregate output would be between 1.4% and 14%. For comparison purposes, we also compute the gains of eliminating all the distortions in high-skilled occupations as well as in all occupations. We find that aggregate output would rise between 16.5% and 3.6% in the first case and between 36.7% and 12% in the latter.
dc.format.extent26
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004578
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Gender-Gaps-in-STEM-Occupations-in-Costa-Rica-El-Salvador-and-Mexico.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectWorkforce and Employment
dc.subjectSTEM Education
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectChildren
dc.subjectGender Gap
dc.subjectSocial Norm
dc.subjectLabor Force
dc.subject.jelcodeE02 - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
dc.subject.jelcodeJ21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
dc.subject.jelcodeJ24 - Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity
dc.subject.jelcodeO40 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General
dc.subject.keywordsTalent misallocation;STEM occupations;Aggregate productivity
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-TN-02593
idb.operationRG-T3474
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