The Labour Supply of Female Engineers in Germany

Recent developments in the German demography will give rise to a shortage in skilled workers in the coming decades. A solution to this problem might involve a higher degree of integration of female engineers in the workforce. Data from the German microcensus 2006 confirm the existence of a hidden reserve of female engineers. Ordered response models are used to show that the labour supply in the engineering sector is mainly determined by age. In addition, the labour supply of female engineers depends on their number of children, and on the age of the youngest child.