SEX-BASED DIFFERENCES IN SCHOOL CONTENT AND THE MALE-FEMALE WAGE GAP

In high school and college, men and women take significantly different courses. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participati on and the National Longitudinal Study class of 1972, we relate these differences in school content to sex differences in adult wages. Diffe rences in field of highest degree account for a significant part of th e male-female wage gap among college graduates, but differences in cou rsework account for little of the equally large wage gap between men a nd women with less schooling. Among college graduates there is some ev idence that the reward for taking male majors is larger for men.