183 E.T. Hill Economics of Education Review 20 2001 181–191
ing data can be controlled for separately. Although the education and training questions were asked separately
by method only in 1967 and for the period covering 1977–1984, the majority 55 of the respondents
reported the acquisition of education, on-the-job training, and other technical, commercial, or skill training. Infor-
mation about all levels of education was available from 1967 to 1977 but only college from 1979 to 1984. This
study analyzes reports of at least one occurrence of a type of training rather than the duration of training.
4
Despite their crudeness, these measures provide some insight into the training of older women see Appendix
A.
3. Method of training—total sample and by occupation
A breakdown of the training incidents in Table 1 shows that 1882 women or 55, reported their training
method by 1984. Because many had trained by more than one method, the number of training incidents was
3073. A woman was included once for each method of training she reported. In about one-fourth of the incidents
Table 1 Training acquired after the usual schooling age
a
Respondents Number
Percent All women in sample
3422 100
Number of women reporting they 2127 62
ever acquired post school age training
Number of women reporting type 1882 55
of training acquired Training incidents
Number
b
Percent Formal education
815 26
On-the-job training 974
32 Other training
1284 42
Total 3073
100
a
Includes post-school-age training before 1967 as well as survey years 1967–1984.
b
Respondents could be included in more than one group but only once for each training method.
4
Using variables for the time spent training by each method which was surveyed between 1979 and 1981, rather than the
acquisition of training by that method, substantially reduced the number of cases and provided little information except to show
a positive correlation between time spent in college and in on- the-job training. Veum 1995 reports that it is the incidence
rather than the duration of training which is positively associa- ted with the wage level.
respondents acquired formal education; in about one- third, on-the-job training. The respondents classified over
two-fifths of the incidents as ‘other’ training, defined as neither formal education nor on-the-job training.
Because the skills needed in various occupations dif- fer, training methods might also differ by occupation.
Table 2 reports training methods by occupation. The last column indicates that on average, more than two training
methods 2.28 were experienced by women in pro- fessional and technical occupations who received train-
ing. The average number of training incidents appears to fall along with the skill level of the occupations. How-
ever, Table 2 reveals that the average number of inci- dents for all occupations is 1.63. Apparently, women
who train often train by more than one method.
Table 2 also shows the percentage of the incidents for each occupation by training method. Although education
was not used most often for any of the occupations, women in professionaltechnical and craftsmenforemen,
occupations requiring a high degree of skill, trained at least 30 of the time by that method. Sales workers,
managersproprietors, operatives, and clerical workers trained in formal classes in 24 or more of their train-
ing episodes.
On-the-job training was used in 30 or more of the training events for all of the occupations except farmers
and farm workers.
5
Not surprisingly, managers and pro- prietors, likely to need more training specific to the firm
than other occupations, reported a larger percentage 39 of their training as on-the-job training incidents.
6
In more highly-skilled occupations, education and on- the-job training were typically used to train workers
while workers in less-skilled occupations tended to acquire other training. Although not a direct comparison,
the large percentage of other training for all of the occu- pations tends to support previous studies observing that
women acquire more off-the-job training than men Loewenstein Spletzer, 1994; Veum, 1993; Lynch,
1991.
4. Who receives training?
The decision to train may be made jointly between a woman and her employer or by the woman alone. In
either case, women likely differ according to their
5
It is likely farmers and farm workers acquire informal on- the-job training but the question asked only about training pro-
grams so that informal training was probably not be picked up.
6
A separate question showed 19 581 of the training inci- dents
as company-sponsored.
Companies trained
professionaltechnical and sales workers a substantial number of times by all methods. Managersproprietors, craftsmenforemen,
operatives, and service workers reported mostly on-the-job training by their employers.
184 E.T. Hill Economics of Education Review 20 2001 181–191
Table 2 Method of training by occupation
a
Occupation Education
On-the-job Other training
Total Number
Average incidents respondents
b
number of incidents
c
N
d e
N N
Prof. technical 223
34 236
35 208
31 667
293 2.28
Mgrs., propriet. 58
25 89
39 83
36 230
130 1.77
Clerical 175
24 266
37 286
39 727
446 1.63
Sales 38
26 45
31 64
43 147
85 1.73
Crafts.foremen 16
30 16
30 21
40 53
33 1.61
Operatives 32
25 45
36 50
39 127
90 1.41
Service 68
18 122
32 186
50 376
257 1.46
Farmers 3
19 3
19 10
62 16
10 1.60
Farm workers 1
14 1
14 5
72 7
5 1.40
Non-farm, non-mine laborers 1
12 4
44 4
44 9
8 1.13
Not reported 200
28 147
21 367
51 714
525 1.36
Total 815
26 974
32 1284
42 3073
1882 1.63
a
Current or most recent occupation of respondent in 1984.
b
Includes only women who reported type of training received.
c
Total incidents by all methodstotal respondents in occupation reporting type of training received.
d
Number of incidents. Each method counted only once resulting in a maximum of three incidents per respondent.
e
Percent of total incidents for that occupation.
characteristics in the acquisition of training. For example, older women might train less than younger
women because both the women and their employers perceive a shorter return time on their training invest-
ment. If discrimination exists, white women might receive more on-the-job training or, if equal opportunity
legislation has a strong effect, they might receive less. Marital history, educational level, and work experience
Table 3 Characteristics associated with acquiring education and training during the survey years 1967–1984
Independent variables
a
Education coefficient
b
On-the-job train. coefficient Other train. coefficient
Age 20.03
4.06 20.03
4.75 20.03
4.96 Race white
0.05 0.68
0.04 0.65
0.33 4.76
Educational level 0.05
6.14 0.04
4.92 0.03
3.81 Never married 1984
0.05 0.32
0.29 2.15
20.03 0.24
Marr. ever ended 1984 0.06
0.92 0.15
2.67 20.04
0.70 Years employed
c
20.002 0.42
0.02 3.65
0.003 0.62
Education pre ’67 0.69
9.35 0.34
4.78 0.30
4.13 On-the-job train pre ’67
0.13 1.28
0.17 1.93
0.23 2.67
Other train pre ’67 0.18
2.57 0.25
4.20 0.23
3.72 Education 1967–1984
– 0.70
9.58 0.61
8.28 On-the-job train. 1977–1984
0.68 10.02
– 0.53
8.40 Other train. 1977–1984
0.60 8.64
0.53 8.35
– Constant
21.14 3.80
20.63 2.46
20.56 2.14
Log-likelihood 2981.6
21392.7 21323.8
Number of cases 3072
3072 3072
a
All independent variables as of 1967 unless otherwise indicated.
b
Absolute value of t statistics in parentheses, significance level 0.01, 0.05, 0.10.
c
At least 6 months and 35 hweek since age 18.
may also affect the post-school-age training decision because of anticipated labor force participation, training
cost, and the need for updated skills. Table 3 reports the results of a probit analysis of the respondents’ character-
istics to determine what differences exist among women who train by various methods.
Several characteristics were significantly associated with all of the training methods. Older respondents
185 E.T. Hill Economics of Education Review 20 2001 181–191
obtained less training by any method, perhaps because they or their employers would have less time to reap
the benefits of such investment in human capital. Or, controlling for years worked, older workers may work a
smaller fraction of the time are less serious about careers.
White women were more likely to acquire other train- ing but no more likely to acquire education or on-the-job
training. Racial discrimination apparently did not affect training opportunities for nonwhite women, at least for
the training methods where employers might have input into the training decision.
Loewenstein and Spletzer 1994 noted that women’s training was more likely to be delayed. It appears from
these data that employers train women with a higher probable payoff: those whose marital status and work
history indicate stronger labor force attachment. Women who were not married, at least at some time during the
survey period, tended to obtain on-the-job training but not more education or other training than other women.
Unmarried women who handle family responsibilities alone have a strong incentive to train but finding time
Table 4 Determinants of 1984 wage level
Ln 1984 wage level Independent variables
Coefficient
a
Coefficient Age
20.01 1.87
20.01 1.68
Race white 20.01
0.42 0.08
2.45 Educational level 1967
0.004 1.23
0.01 2.58
Live in south 1984 20.11
3.80 20.11
3.50 Years employed 1984
b
0.02 4.48
0.03 5.44
Years employed squared 20.0004
3.53 20.0004
4.33 Adult education pre ’67
0.08 2.29
0.13 3.49
On-the-job training pre ’67 0.07
1.69 0.09
2.06 Other training pre ’67
0.07 2.32
0.07 2.21
Education 1967–1984 0.02
0.56 0.13
3.34 On-the-job training 1977–1984
0.13 3.36
0.19 4.53
Other training 1977–1984 0.03
1.00 0.06
1.61 Occupation
c
—compared to clerical 0.20
4.57 Professional, technical
Managers, proprietors 0.15
0.32 Sales
0.12 2.12
Craftsmen, foremen 20.22
3.67 Operatives
20.15 1.79
Service 20.16
3.69 Farmers
20.34 8.95
Farm workers 20.49
2.84 Non-farm, non-mine laborers
20.24 1.63
Lambda 20.14
1.89 20.18
2.27 Constant
6.42 46.09
6.08 42.20
R
2
0.35 0.27
Number of cases 1257
1257
a
Absolute value of t statistics in parentheses, significance level:0.01, 0.05, 0.10.
b
At least 6 months and 35 hweek since age 18.
c
Occupation on current or last job.
outside work time may be difficult. Therefore, they may focus on acquiring on-the-job training. This variable may
also measure a signal these women send to employers or employers’ perceptions about their labor force attach-
ment.
Various kinds of human capital appear complemen- tary. Women with higher educational levels receive
additional education and training by all methods more frequently than less-educated women, perhaps signaling
their experience and success at learning so they may train at a lower cost than less-educated women. The positive
effect of educational level on all types of training agrees with Lillard and Tan 1992 although Royalty 1996
suggests educational level acts on training as proxy for turnover probability, more educated women having a
lower turnover rate. Presumably firms would prefer to train workers they’re less likely to lose. This result for
older women agrees with the Lynch’s 1992 finding for younger workers, that on-the-job training increases along
with educational level. However, using education as a proxy for general training, the results differ from Lynch
in that she finds a negative association between general
186 E.T. Hill Economics of Education Review 20 2001 181–191
training and educational level. But because the data used in this study measure fewer women at lower educational
levels see Appendix A, the data report less remedial education.
Further evidence of employers’ needs to observe a labor market commitment is provided by the finding that
a strong early labor force attachment is associated with on-the-job training later in life but not with education or
other training. Women with more work experience had strong incentives as well as increased opportunities for
on-the-job training compared to those in the labor force fewer years. Although this analysis uses work experience
rather than tenure with the firm, the positive statistically significant association of work experience with on-the-
job training may also be due to the tendency of firms to train workers after they have been with the company for
some time noted by other studies Loewenstein Spletzer, 1997; Barron et al., 1993; Lillard Tan, 1992.
Apparently certain women tend toward training. Women who acquired education and training after the
usual schooling age but before 1967 more likely trained during the survey period.
7
Those who obtained education and other training prior to 1967 acquired more training
by all training methods from 1967 to 1984. Women who trained on-the-job prior to 1967 subsequently acquired
more of both on-the-job and other training. That training in an earlier time period raises the probability of training
later on is similar to the finding of Loewenstein and Spletzer 1994.
Table 3 shows that during the survey years, the methods of training appear to be complements rather
than substitutes: women who received training by each method were more likely to obtain it by the other two
methods. Some employees may signal employers that firms can benefit from training them. Alternatively or in
addition, certain workers may be more interested in acquiring education and training.
5. Training and wages
