Melanie Wasserman

Overview

Melanie Wasserman is a labor economist at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Her research focuses on gender gaps in education and labor markets, with particular attention to how family environment and school inputs shape the divergent trajectories of boys and girls.

Key Contributions / Features

• Co-authored Autor, Figlio, Karbownik, Roth, and Wasserman (2019, AEJ Applied): Documented using Florida administrative data that family disadvantage disproportionately widens the boy-girl gap in behavioral (suspensions, absences) and attainment (kindergarten readiness, HS graduation) outcomes, with postnatal social mechanisms confirmed via birthweight falsification. Behavioral, not cognitive, pathways account for the dominant share of the family disadvantage → dropout connection. See Gender Gap in Educational Outcomes.

Related

• David Autor
• David Figlio
• Krzysztof Karbownik
• Jeffrey Roth
• Gender Gap in Educational Outcomes

Sources

• Autor Figlio Karbownik Roth and Wasserman 2019 — Family Disadvantage and the Gender Gap in Behavioral and Educational Outcomes