Youth Labor Market Entry in Denmark: A Gender-based Analysis of the First Significant Job

Although Denmark represents an egalitarian gender regime with a remarkably high female employment rate, it nonetheless also displays a high degree of horizontal and vertical labor market segregation by sex. In our study, we examine whether gender-based educational, horizontal, and vertical dissimilarities already emerge at the outset of individuals’ work careers (specifically at the time of the first significant job), and how they have developed across birth cohorts. We use population register data kept by Statistics Denmark. Our results show that over time, both sexes are bringing higher educational levels to their first entry into work and women are outcompeting men. Moreover, males and females are favoring different occupational sectors. However, this horizontal segregation appears to have softened across cohorts. With regard to vertical segregation, it becomes evident that female entrants are at a disadvantage, even though young women surpass men in terms of education.

Stine Møllegaard Pedersen, Susanne Wahler and Sandra Buchholz: "Youth Labor Market Entry in Denmark: A Gender-based Analysis of the First Significant Job" in Gender, Education and Employment - An International Comparison of School-to-Work Transitions; eduLIFE Lifelong Learning; 2015