Webinar: Stereotypes, Education Choice, and Youth Unemployment

Young workers on the labor market have little working experience that allows them to signal their ability to employers. Imperfect information with regard to the young worker's ability leaves room for interpretation. In this paper I analyze how stereotype thinking can lead to a difference in education choice and the employment of young female and male workers. The model predicts that female workers are more likely to opt out of tertiary education, if education becomes more expensive or the probability of getting a job after education goes down. Whereas male workers are more likely to end up in the lowest track of education, if education becomes more expensive or the probability of getting a job after education goes down. I test the model predictions using data from the European Social Survey.