Education Gender Gaps in Pakistan: Is the Labor Market to Blame?

A study was conducted to examine whether the labor market is the reason behind gender gaps in education in Pakistan. Four main methods of estimation are utilized, namely, standard ordinary least squares (OLS), the Heckman two-step procedure, two-stage least squares (2SLS), and household fixed-effects estimation to control for unobserved family-specific heterogeneity. The coefficients on education levels are positive and progressively rising with higher levels of education for both genders, showing a convex relationship between education and earnings. Second, the coefficients at all education levels are notably higher for females than for males. There are najor gender differences in labor force participation rates, with male participation in the labor force being 88% and femal being only 26%. A relatively high proportion of males and females are involved in self-employment: 42% and 16%, respectively. Gender differences in waged work participation are specifically striking, with males being 42% and females being only 7%.