Analysis · Education
How Working Hours Changed the Story of Graduate Equality
By AWEI · AI-compiled · Published · Analysis prepared · 1 source · edoc.vifapol.de
A smaller gender gap in prestigious jobs can conceal a larger difference in working hours. In their 2003 working paper, Anna Kim and Ki-Wan Kim found that German graduates appeared more equal by gender than British graduates on occupational status. Separating full-time from part-time jobs changed that comparison.
The researchers analysed Germany’s Micro Census and the UK Labour Force Survey, both from 1996. Their statistical models covered economically active residents aged 25–45, excluding foreign nationals, students and apprentices. They compared educational qualifications, six broad subject groups and occupational classes, then distinguished full-time and part-time employment.
Here, educational returns meant occupational position, rather than measured earnings. The highest category included higher-grade professionals, administrators and public officials. Among university-level graduates, women were less likely than men to occupy this category in both countries, but the initial gender difference was smaller in Germany.
When the researchers examined full-time positions in that category separately, the gender gaps became similar across the two countries. German women were more likely than British women to hold those positions part-time. Their apparently stronger position on one measure therefore did not translate into a similarly small gap on another. This finding alone cannot establish whether part-time work reflected preferences, constraints or both.
The evidence has other boundaries. These were observational snapshots, so associations between qualifications and jobs do not establish that studying a particular subject caused an outcome. The surveys lacked information needed to account for university prestige and parental socioeconomic background. The authors also flagged inconsistencies in how teachers were classified across countries, complicating comparisons of education graduates.
The practical lesson is about testing career promises: ask exactly what counts as success. Occupational rank, earnings and working hours answer different questions. This historical comparison shows why a credible claim about graduate opportunity needs a clearly defined outcome and population before it can support a broader conclusion.
Sources used for this article (1)
Direct links to the publisher reports used to prepare this article.
- Source 1
- Returns to Tertiary Education in Germany and the UK: Effects of Fields of Study and Gender Anna Kim, Ki-Wan Kim
