Great Expectations: The Determinants of Female University Enrollment in Europe

29 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2011

See all articles by Alessandra Casarico

Alessandra Casarico

Bocconi University - Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

Paola Profeta

Bocconi University - Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Chiara Pronzato

University of Essex - Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)

Date Written: March 31, 2011

Abstract

We empirically investigate the determinants of the female decision of investing in post-secondary education, focusing on the role played by the context where young women take their education decision. We first develop a stylized two-period model to analyze the female decision of investing in education and highlight two main determinants: the time to be devoted to child care and the probability of working in a skilled job. We then use data on educational decisions of women in the 17-21 age group drawn from EU-Silc, available for the years 2004-2008. From the same survey we construct context indicators at the regional level, and exploit regional variability to identify how women’s educational investment reacts to changes in the surrounding context. We find that the share of working women with children below 5 and the share of women with managerial positions or self-employed positively affect the probability that women enroll in post-secondary education. The same does not hold for men.

Keywords: post-secondary education, university, child care time requirement, managerial positions, self-employment, context, EU-Silc data, repeated cross-section

JEL Classification: J160, J240

Suggested Citation

Casarico, Alessandra and Profeta, Paola and Pronzato, Chiara, Great Expectations: The Determinants of Female University Enrollment in Europe (March 31, 2011). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3406, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1803121 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1803121

Alessandra Casarico (Contact Author)

Bocconi University - Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, 20136
Italy

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Paola Profeta

Bocconi University - Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, 20136
Italy

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Chiara Pronzato

University of Essex - Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) ( email )

Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom

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