HIGHER EDUCATION FINANCING AND WOMEN’S OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION IN AGEING ECONOMIES: A CROSS‑COUNTRY PANEL ANALYSIS OF GENDER WAGE GAPS AND CARE SECTOR EMPLOYMENT
Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/html/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 36
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/ssh.v12i2.2589Keywords:
higher education financing, women's employment, population ageing, gender wage gap, care-sector employmentAbstract
Population ageing and persistent gender inequality in employment are two defining structural forces in contemporary labour markets. This cross-sectional, cross-country study examines whether higher education financing is associated with three dimensions of women's employment outcomes, namely the gender wage gap, women's representation in managerial positions, and care-sector employment, across 40 economies, and whether population ageing moderates these relationships. Secondary data were drawn from OECD, ILOSTAT, World Bank, and United Nations sources. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, multiple regression, and moderation analyses were conducted. Tertiary expenditure per student was unrelated to the gender wage gap (n = 16) and was unexpectedly negatively associated with women's managerial representation (n = 34). However, tertiary expenditure showed a strong positive relationship with care-sector employment (n = 37), and population ageing significantly moderated this relationship under both continuous and categorical operationalisations. The positive association between tertiary expenditure and care-sector employment also remained significant in the OECD-only sample. Findings indicate that higher education financing does not advance every dimension of gender equality uniformly but is closely linked to expanding care-related labour demand in ageing societies. Aligning education financing with care-workforce needs, alongside targeted gender-equality measures, is recommended.
Downloads
References
Addati, L., Cattaneo, U., Esquivel, V., & Valarino, I. (2018). Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work. ILO.
Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2016). The gender wage gap: Extent, trends, and explanations (No. w21913). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Chang, J. H., Viveros, J. L., & Wirth, L. (2019). Women in business and management: The business case for change. International Labour Organization.
Charles, M. (2011). A world of difference: International trends in women's economic status. Annual Review of Sociology, 37(1), 355–371.
Corbett, S., & Johnston, K. (2023). Neo-androgynous management: Managing the English further education in an era of neoliberalism? Journal of Education and Work, 36(5), 329–344.
Cortes, P., & Pan, J. (2018). Occupation and gender. In S. L. Averett, L. M. Argys, & S. D. Hoffman (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of women and the economy (pp. 425–452). Oxford University Press.
England, P. (2005). Emerging theories of care work. Annual Review of Sociology, 31(1), 381–399.
Goldin, C. (2014). A grand gender convergence: Its last chapter. American Economic Review, 104(4), 1091–1119.
Gregory, S. K. (2021). Managing labour market re-entry following maternity leave among women in the Australian higher education sector. Journal of Sociology, 57(3), 577–594.
International Labour Organization. (2026). ILOSTAT database [Data set]. https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/
McKie, L., & Jyrkinen, M. (2021). Care horizons and career choices for women managers. International Journal of Care and Caring, 5(4), 685–700.
OECD. (2020). Who cares? Attracting and retaining care workers for the elderly. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/92c0ef68-en
OECD. (2023a). Health at a glance 2023: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en
OECD. (2023b). Joining forces for gender equality: What is holding us back? OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/67d48024-en
OECD. (2023c). SIGI 2023 global report: Gender equality in times of crisis. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/4607b7c7-en
OECD. (2025a). Education at a glance 2025: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/1c0d9c79-en
OECD. (2025b). Education at a glance 2025: Sources, methodologies and technical notes. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/fcfaf2d1-en
OECD. (2025c). SIGI 2023 methodology: A statistical instrument to assess deeply rooted gender-based discrimination in social institutions. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/775aca3a-en
OECD. (2026). OECD Data Explorer [Data set]. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/
Olivetti, C., & Petrongolo, B. (2016). The evolution of gender gaps in industrialized countries. Annual Review of Economics, 8(1), 405–434.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. (2024). World population prospects 2024: Summary of results (UN DESA/POP/2024/TR/NO. 9).
World Bank. (2024). Women, business and the law 2024. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-2063-2
World Bank. (2026). World Development Indicators [Data set]. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal For Research In Social Science And Humanities
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In consideration of the journal, Green Publication taking action in reviewing and editing our manuscript, the authors undersigned hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership to the Editorial Office of the Green Publication in the event that such work is published in the journal. Such conveyance covers any product that may derive from the published journal, whether print or electronic. Green Publication shall have the right to register copyright to the Article in its name as claimant, whether separately
or as part of the journal issue or other medium in which the Article is included.
By signing this Agreement, the author(s), and in the case of a Work Made For Hire, the employer, jointly and severally represent and warrant that the Article is original with the author(s) and does not infringe any copyright or violate any other right of any third parties, and that the Article has not been published elsewhere, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in any form, except as provided herein. Each author’s signature should appear below. The signing author(s) (and, in
