Wage expectations for higher education students in Spain Articles uri icon

published in

publication date

  • March 2016

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 17

issue

  • 1

volume

  • 30

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1121-7081

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1467-9914

abstract

  • . We assess students' ability to forecast future earnings by using data on expected wages self-reported by college students with different graduation horizons. We find a significant gender gap, by which wage expectations are systematically lower for women than for men. However, women do not
    fully account for the gender gap in their future earnings. We also find that student performance, degree
    type, and graduation horizon play a relevant role in wage forecasts. In any case, students' expectations
    do not conform market wages but become more realistic as they approach graduation. We are in debt with Juanjo Dolado and Ricardo Mora for valuable comments. We acknowledge
    research funding from the Spanish Ministry of Finance and Competitiveness, Grant Nos. ECO2012-
    31358 (first author) and ECO2014-57442-P (second author)

subjects

  • Economics