Does Single-Sex Schooling Help or Hurt Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea

Abstract

We investigate the effects of attending a single-sex high school on future labor market outcomes through use of a randomized natural experiment. South Korean students are randomly assigned, by lottery, to single-sex or co-educational schools within their school districts. Using a large set of individual-level panel data, we find that entering single-sex schools significantly decreases female labor market outcomes after graduation. In contrast, we do not find evidence that single-sex education affects male outcomes. We explore possible mechanisms for these asymmetric treatment effects, including career choice and post-graduation network effects.