Inter-gender differentials between college students' earnings expectationsand the experience of recent graduates

Earnings reported by 219 recent college graduates and earnings expected by 248 college seniors are estimated separately for men and women as functions of labor input, grade point average, age, type of employer, type of job, l ocation, and ethnicity. The empirical evidence reveals that, while students ' expectations generally accord with the prevalent trends of recent graduat es' marketplace experiences, they are only partially aware of what the mark et bears. The model seems to describe better the behavior of men than the b ehavior of women. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. JEL c lassification: J16; J31.