Three Essays On The Economics of Education

Bacic, Ryan

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/30223

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DC Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.advisor	Sweetman, Arthur	-
dc.contributor.advisor	Zheng, Angela	-
dc.contributor.author	Bacic, Ryan	-
dc.date.accessioned	2024-09-24T15:09:59Z	-
dc.date.available	2024-09-24T15:09:59Z	-
dc.date.issued	2024	-
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/11375/30223	-
dc.description.abstract	This thesis examines heterogeneity in human capital outcomes across race and gender. Using administrative data from British Columbia, the first chapter investigates the income-achievement gap in provincial test scores among Grade 4 and 7 students of different racial backgrounds. The second chapter estimates the impact of switching post-secondary majors on labour market earnings for men and women. Finally, using university application data from Ontario, the third chapter investigates gender gaps in applications, offers and acceptances to engineering and computer science programs. In Chapter 1, I show that there is considerable variation in test score gaps between children from families of high- and low-socioeconomic status (SES) across racial backgrounds. In particular, the gap in mean test scores between Indigenous children of high- and low SES is 0.7 standard deviations, while it is only 0.37 standard deviations for East Asian children. Further investigation into the gap among Indigenous students reveals a potential connection to broader socio-economic issues impacting Indigenous communities. In Chapter 2, I study the impact of switching post-secondary majors on earnings. To address the endogeneity of switching, I employ a doubly-robust matching estimator to create a credible counterfactual group for switchers. Switching has a greater impact on the earnings of women, with women experiencing gains (losses) as large as $15,500 ($23,000) conditional on initial major. These results highlight the importance of major-choice as it relates to labour market earnings. Finally, Chapter 3 investigates the gender gaps throughout the application process to undergraduate engineering and computer science programs. While we observe large gender gaps in applications to both programs, we also observe gender gaps in offers to engineering programs and acceptances to computer science programs. This suggests that both programs may face unique challenges in achieving gender parity in enrollment.	en_US
dc.subject	Economics	en_US
dc.title	Three Essays On The Economics of Education	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Economics	en_US
dc.description.degreetype	Thesis	en_US
dc.description.degree	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	en_US
dc.description.layabstract	This thesis examines heterogeneity in human capital outcomes across race and gender at three stages: elementary school, applications to university, and post-secondary major selection. Analyzing data on test scores from British Columbia, I find that the gap in mean test scores between students from high- vs low-income families varies considerably across racial backgrounds. Indigenous students, in particular, exhibit a large gap in scores between students from high- and low-income families. Using administrative data from British Columbia that links enrollment records with tax information, I investigate differences in the impacts of switching post-secondary majors on labour earnings for men and women. Relative to male students, switching has a large effect on the earnings of women conditional on initial major. Finally, investigating university application data from Ontario, I find gender gaps throughout the application process (applications, offers and acceptances) to Engineering and Computer Science programs.	en_US
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