The Gender Dimension of Technical Change and Job Polarisation

Abstract

Many studies have shown that technical change has led to job polarisation. A relatively unexplored aspect of this is whether there has been a gender bias. This paper is the first to show gender bias in technology driven skill polarisation. Between 1997 and 2006 the demand for women shows hollowing out across high, medium and low education groups, as a consequence of technical change. This was not the case for men. Decomposing the fall in the gender pay gap shows further evidence for gender biased technological change. For moderate and complex computer users the fall in the gender pay gap remains largely unexplained suggesting gender biased demand shifts have significantly contributed to the closing of the gender pay gap.Gender Pay, Task-Bias Technology Change, Skills