Sex-based differences in school content and the male-female wage gap

In high school and college, men and women take significantly different courses. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the National Longitudinal Study class of 1972, we relate these differences in school content to sex differences in adult wages. Differences in field of highest degree account for a significant part of the male-female wage gap among college graduates, but differences in coursework account for little of the equally large wage gap between men and women with less schooling. Among college graduates there is some evidence that the reward for taking male majors is larger for men.