Career choices and the evolution of the college gender gap

Abstract

We propose a complementary explanation for the evolution of the college gender gap that emphasizes the raising opportunity cost of pursuing a college degree for men, due to the increase in the rewards to becoming a superstar in men-dominated occupations, like professional sports. We support our expla- nation with causal evidence from a natural experiment in European soccer markets that provides exogenous variation in male earnings in a superstar path. Consistent with our story, we nd a signi cant positive e ect of an increase in male superstar earnings on the ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment in college education.