Gendered Labor Outcomes among Stem Professionals in Mexico: Educational Expansion and Structural Inequalities, 2005–2023

Karina García Morales , El Colegio de México

At the international level, STEM education has been promoted as a key strategy to foster innovation, productivity, and competitiveness, and Mexico has followed this trend through public policies aimed at increasing the number of STEM professionals, especially women. The growing proportion of tertiary-educated individuals requires a closer examination of internal heterogeneities, such as those defined by educational fields. This research describes and analyzes the heterogeneity of labor conditions among tertiary-educated individuals aged 25–39 between 2005 and 2023, examining how educational expansion and policies to promote STEM training have interacted with persistent gender and structural inequalities. Using microdata from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE), the study adopts a quantitative approach that combines logistic regression models and quantile regressions. The former are estimated to identify the factors associated with the correspondence between education and occupation, while the latter explore wage distribution patterns related to field of study (STEM, social sciences, and others) and sociodemographic characteristics. Results indicate that being male, holding a postgraduate degree, being single, childless, and older within the age group increases the odds of job–education matching; however, STEM graduates show a higher probability of mismatch compared to others. Quantile regressions reveal persistent wage gaps both across and within fields, particularly between men and women. Furthermore, a temporal contraction in real income (from 2005 to 2023) reflects structural weaknesses in the Mexican labor market to provide sustained economic advantages for individuals with higher qualifications.

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 Presented in Session P7. Education, Labor Market, and Economic Issues