Gender, Higher Education, and Earnings: The Case of Hong Kong

Higher education globally has witnessed a lot of developments in recent years; Hong Kong is no exception. A major aspect of the development is in women’s participation. Female students enrolled in Hong Kong higher education programs have outnumbered male students. The subsequent steady increase in women’s employment has led to changes in patterns of the labor market. However, a closer examination of these patterns indicates that women still fared less favorably than men in terms of labor force participation and employment earnings. This chapter reviews data from the Census and Statistics Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to identify past trends and major characteristics of female participation. In particular, this chapter will assess the relationship between the trends of women’s participation in higher education and the gender gap in employment earnings, and identify other factors that may affect the earnings mobility of women in higher education in Hong Kong.