Degrees to Desk: The Link Between Education and Workweek Length and Gender-based Differences
From working part-time to full-time, our weekly schedule is not solely shaped by the educational paths we choose but is also influenced by our gender. While analyzing the time use data, it revealed the relationship between age, education, gender, and working hours. I uncovered trends to help answer the question of how educational attainment influences the distribution of weekly working hours and to find if there is a gender-based difference in this relationship. These findings reveal how education affects work hours and how gender plays a role in the workplace. By creating visual graphs from the data, I’ve gained valuable insights about the data that allowed me to answer my research question effectively.
In analyzing the relationship between weekly working hours and education levels, I could visually identify that as the level of education increases, so does the length of the workweek. This direct correlation underscores the impact of educational attainment on one’s weekly workload. A college degree increases the likelihood of working a full-time 40-hour work week. While looking at those without a high school diploma will often result in part-time employment averaging around 30 hours per week. This trend can be due to the range of job opportunities becoming accessible with a college degree, often leading to full-time employment. Looking at the statistics, a significant proportion of individuals who have graduated with a Professional degree, approximately 40.85%, are employed in jobs that extend beyond the conventional 40-hour workweek. This finding highlights that many careers requiring a Professional degree, such as those in law, medicine, or engineering, often involve demanding workloads that cause their weekly work hours to exceed 40 hours.
In looking at gender distribution within education levels, it showed some surprising findings, especially for a woman. Among those who have graduated with some form of collegiate degree, approximately 56.32% of individuals are women. In the ongoing discussion and awareness of gender equity in higher education, women are increasingly pursuing and excelling in academic pursuits. As we shift the focus to those who have completed less than a high school diploma, we find a more balanced distribution among individuals, with approximately 46.73% being males and 53.77% being females.
Finally, I completed a comparative analysis to see the correlation between gender and working hours across different age groups. By creating a line graph, I could see peak working hours and visually compare men and women to understand how their working hours differ. Overall, the data reveals that women work fewer hours than men throughout their lifetime. Both genders experience a peak in working hours, exceeding 45 hours, between the ages of 29 and 54. This age-related peak aligns with significant life events as individuals. The typical student graduates college between 22 and 29 years old, depending on what career or degree they are pursuing. The age when retirement typically begins is around 55, providing context to the observed trend of hours decreasing at 54 years old.
Analyzing the time use data provided several key insights that help answer the question of how educational attainment influences the distribution of weekly working hours and to find if there is a gender-based difference in this relationship. The first analysis of the relationship between education and working hours shows a direct correlation. As educational attainment increases, individuals are more likely to be employed, often working 40 hours or more per week. Alternatively, those without a high school diploma are more inclined towards part-time work, typically averaging around 30 hours weekly. Regarding gender-based differences, when it comes to educational attainment, women have significantly impacted higher education. Women now represent the more significant proportion of those graduating with college degrees. However, regarding typical workweek hours, women generally work fewer than men. In our lifetime, both genders experience a peak in weekly working hours, often exceeding 45 hours per week, between the ages of 29 and 54. Overall, these findings offer valuable perspectives to create fairer education and employment policies that promote equality in our society, regardless of age or gender.
