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Research ArticleArticles

Non-College Occupations, Workplace Routinization, and Female College Enrollment

Amanda Chuan and Weilong Zhang
Published online before print May 09, 2025, 0523-12892R2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0124-13360R1
Amanda Chuan
Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, 368 Farm Lane Room S435, East Lansing, MI 48824 ().
Roles: Assistant Professor
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  • For correspondence: [email protected]
Weilong Zhang
University of Cambridge, Austin Robinson Building, Sidgwick Ave, Cambridge CB3 9DD, United Kingdom. ().
Roles: Associate Professor of Economics
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Abstract

We evaluate the impact of routinization from 1960 to 2000 on college enrollment. Among non-college workers, routine occupations employed a substantial share of the female workforce, but this share plummeted from 1970 on. Using shift-share instruments, we show that routinization displaced women’s non-college occupations, raising female enrollment. Men’s non-college occupations were less vulnerable, leaving their enrollment rates largely unaffected. Embedding this instrumental variation into a Roy model explains the mechanisms. Gender differences in skill create a comparative advantage in manual work for non-college men, leaving women to sort into routine jobs, which were more vulnerable to routinization.

Keywords
  • human capital
  • college enrollment
  • gender
  • automation
  • routinization
JEL Classifications:
  • I23
  • I24
  • I26
  • J16
  • J24
  • J23

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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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Non-College Occupations, Workplace Routinization, and Female College Enrollment
Amanda Chuan, Weilong Zhang
Journal of Human Resources May 2025, 0523-12892R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0124-13360R1

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Non-College Occupations, Workplace Routinization, and Female College Enrollment
Amanda Chuan, Weilong Zhang
Journal of Human Resources May 2025, 0523-12892R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0124-13360R1
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Keywords

  • human capital
  • college enrollment
  • gender
  • automation
  • routinization
  • I23
  • I24
  • I26
  • J16
  • J24
  • J23
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