The Gender Pay Gap in Leadership and Other White-Collar Positions in Germany: Putting the Relevance of Women's Share in Occupations into Context

This article uses German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) data to compare the effects of occupational sex composition on the gender pay gap for persons in leadership positions and those not in leadership positions in the private sector. Drawing on established theoretical approaches, the hypothesis is advanced that leadership positions in (the relatively small number of) women's occupations and men's occupations are more similar in terms of qualification requirements and job content than other non-leadership white-collar positions. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the probability of wage penalties in typical women's occupations is lower in leadership positions. Using linear fixed-effects models with Heckman's correction, wage estimates show that pay is lower in women's occupations only for people in non-leadership positions. Furthermore, a decomposition of the gender wage differential reveals that the gender typicality of a given occupation partly explains the gender pay gap in non-leadership positions. For people in leadership positions, no such effect is detected.