This paper estimates the effects of gender role attitudes and personality traits on the gender wage gap in Australia. Applying standard decomposition techniques and controlling for a wide range of variables, the paper finds that at least 67.8% of the total gender wage gap of 17.4% in 2019 remains unexplained - a figure which is lower than previous years. The results establish gender role attitudes as a key predictor of this pay gap both in the explained and unexplained part of the wage decomposition. It also shows that the impact of personality traits depends on whether the big five traits or the sub-traits are used in the analysis. Even some of the sub-traits belonging to the same category can influence the gender pay gap in opposite directions. Overall, the estimates establish the importance of psychological variables as more important than traditional human capital and other work-related characteristics in explaining the remaining gender wage gap in Australia.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	gender wage gap, wage decompositions, discrimination, gender role attitudes, personality, Australia
Research Division:	Economics
Research Group:	Applied economics
Research Field:	Labour economics
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Microeconomics
Objective Field:	Micro labour market issues
UTAS Author:	Kamal, M (Mr Mustafa Kamal)
UTAS Author:	Blacklow, P (Dr Paul Blacklow)
ID Code:	149443
Year Published:	2022
Deposited By:	Economics
Deposited On:	2022-03-30
Last Modified:	2023-03-22
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