The Role of Gender in Job Promotions

Abstract

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark is a research fellow in the National Centre for Development Studies and the Economics Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Yvonne Dunlop is a Ph.D. student in the Economics Program. workers an incentive to work hard and to retain valuable employees while, at the same time, filling higher level positions. In addition to giving workers financial rewards, promotions afford them the incentive and opportunity to acquire new skills or additional training that may ultimately—especially among young workers who are promoted—result in permanent earnings differences. Given this potential, efforts have increasingly focused on understanding the role of gender in the promotion process. The concern is that differential opportunities for promotion may contribute to the wage gap that currently exists between the genders, either directly, by influencing wages and wage growth, or indirectly, by contributing to labor market segregation, which is in turn related to relative wages. This article examines the role of gender in the promotion process for young men and women early in their careers. It first highlights the qualitative nature of promotions and then focuses on who gets promoted by considering the characteristics of men and women who have been promoted. Finally, the relationship between labor market conditions—in particular, unemployment rates, and employment growth in industries and occupations—and promotion is assessed.