Overview

Abstract (English)

In this article, we use Canadian-linked employer-employee data to examine gender differences in receiving firm-sponsored training. We find that women in the for-profit sector are less likely to receive classroom training and receive fewer classroom training courses. However, we find the opposite in the non-profit sector, where women are more likely to receive both classroom and on-the-job training, and also receive more classroom training courses. We show that women’s worse training opportunities in the for-profit sector mainly operate within workplaces. We find no evidence that gender gaps in training in the for-profit sector are driven by lower probabilities of accepting training offers, child or family commitments, weaker labour market attachment or worker self-selection. We also find that gender differences in expected changes in wages and training opportunities between the two sectors can explain a large portion of women’s higher probability of employment in the non-profit sector. Finally, decomposition results suggest that part of the gender wage gap in the for-profit sector, which is twice as large as in the non-profit sector, can be explained by gender differences in training.

Abstract (French)

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