How Does Higher Education Among Women Affect the Labor Market of Poland?

Abstract

This paper explores the effect of women’s higher education in Poland on its labor market. First, I provide an overview of the Polish economy and its labor market. During its transition from a communist economy to a capitalist one, Poland experienced remarkable economic growth, transforming from a developing economy to a developed one. Consequently, the structural transformation of the Polish economy allowed it to achieve a 3% unemployment rate – a healthy level for even advanced economies. Second, I survey economic theories on the effect of women’s higher education on the economy. Advanced economies such as the U.S. have experienced an increase in women’s labor force participation rate, leading to an increase in the rate for the overall population and a narrowing of the gap in participation between men and women. Poland, on the other hand, has seen an increase in participation for both men and women to an equal extent, without a decrease in the gap in participation between genders. Third, I review case studies of other economies that have experienced dramatic changes in female education and labor participation, as has Poland. From this comparative analysis, it seems that strong gender norms in Poland, which can be partially explained by the strong Catholic presence there, can explain the persistence of the gap in participation and wage between men and women, despite the stellar educational attainment of women in Poland.