Male‐female Differences in Occupational Choice and the Demand for General and Occupation‐specific Human Capital

A human capital model of occupational choice as demand for general and occupation‐specific human capital is developed to show how women's occupational choices vary with their lifetime labor force participation patterns. The model is tested using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. The major empirical finding is that women who take less home time choose occupations which require more human capital, especially specific human capital. Women's occupations and wages are quite responsive to changes in their labor force participation patterns. If women worked continuously, their occupations and wages would be much closer to those of men.