Bilişsel Beceriler ve İstihdam: Cinsiyete Dayalı Bir Fark Var Mı?

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 14 Sayı: 2, 291 - 321, 07.09.2025

Nur Banu Kartal , Tolga Aksoy

Öz

Bu çalışma, bilişsel beceriler ile istihdam durumu arasındaki ilişkide cinsiyet farklılıklarının rolünü incelemektedir. 2003–2019 yıllarını kapsayan Sosyo-Ekonomik Panel (SOEP) verileri kullanılarak, bilişsel beceriler üç dalga halinde uygulanan ve zaman içinde sabit kaldığı varsayılan Sembol-Rakam Testi (SDT) sonuçlarıyla ölçülmektedir. Bulgularımız, bilişsel beceriler ile istihdam olasılığı arasında anlamlı ve pozitif bir ilişki olduğunu ve bu ilişkinin cinsiyetler arasında belirgin farklılıklar gösterdiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Özellikle erkekler için bilişsel becerilerin getirisi sistematik olarak daha yüksektir. Bu sonuçlar, farklı tahmin yöntemleri kullanıldığında ve bilişsel becerilerin zamanla sabit ya da değişken biçimleri dikkate alındığında da tutarlılığını korumaktadır. Ayrıca, sosyal normlar ve bireysel farklılıklar gibi bu farklılıkları açıklayabilecek muhtemel mekanizmalar da tartışılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bilişsel Beceriler , İstihdam Durumu , Panel Veri Modelleri , Cinsiyet Farklılıkları

Cognitive Skills and Employment Status: Is There a Gender Difference?

Öz

This paper examines the gender differences in the association between cognitive skills and employment status. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) spanning 2003–2019, we measure cognitive skills through the Symbol Digit Test (SDT), administered in three waves and assumed to be time-invariant. Our findings reveal a prominent and statistically significant positive relationship between cognitive skills and employment probability, with considerable gender disparities. In particular, the returns to cognitive skills are consistently higher for men. These results remain robust across different estimation methods and hold when considering both time-invariant and time-variant cognitive skills. We explore potential mechanisms driving these patterns, including social norms and individual heterogeneity.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Cognitive Skills , Employment Status , Panel Data Models , Gender Differences

Teşekkür

We are grateful to Alpaslan Akay, Bilge Eriş Dereli, Guido Neidhöfer, and Hüseyin Taştan for their valuable comments and suggestions. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments.

Kaynakça

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