Elizabeth M. King is Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA. Dileni Gunewardena is Professor of Economics at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and Non-resident Fellow, Verité Research, Sri Lanka.
This is a very timely volume. The importance of gender equality cannot be overemphasized given the historical low participation of women in schooling and in the labour market. The volume also provides great insights on the differential impact of socioemotional skills on labour market outcomes. -Jane Mariara, Executive Director, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP). This book by Elizabeth King and Dileni Gunewardena analyzes gender differences in educational human capital and their effects on the labor earnings gaps observed across different income levels and in a diverse set of country circumstances. The authors draw attention to the role of cognitive and socioemotional skill components of human capital in informing such earnings gaps in addition to the conventional measure of years of schooling. Using primary survey data of 13 countries and innovative quantitative methods and interpretations, the book provides solid evidence on the simultaneous and stubborn presence of glass ceilings and sticky floors experienced by women in different parts of the world. -Binayak Sen, Director-General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies