Long Run Impacts of Women’s Education: Evidence from Administrative Health and Earnings Records

Women now attend college at higher rates than men. The steady increase in women’s college-going has been accompanied by a rise in women’s labor force participation, advancement into professional work, and career ambitions. However, it is unclear whether these associations are the result of increased education on women’s careers, or the result of other, related, decisions, such as delayed marriage and fertility. Economist Na’ama Shenhav will investigate the impacts of higher education on women’s work and job amenities, including the selectivity and prestige of a job and flexibility of job schedule, over the lifecycle as well as the effects of higher education on child wellbeing. She will analyze data from multiple sources, including restricted-access California birth certificate data, data from the Census Numident file, Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics data, IRS tax records, and American Community Survey data for her study.