Monitoring Gender Gaps via LinkedIn Advertising Estimates: the case study of Italy

Abstract: Women remain underrepresented in the labour market. Although significant advancements are being made to increase female participation in the workforce, the gender gap is still far from being bridged. We contribute to the growing literature on gender inequalities in the labour market, evaluating the potential of the LinkedIn estimates to monitor the evolution of the gender gaps sustainably, complementing the official data sources. In particular, assessing the labour market patterns at a subnational level in Italy. Our findings show that the LinkedIn estimates accurately capture the gender disparities in Italy regarding sociodemographic attributes such as gender, age, geographic location, seniority, and industry category. At the same time, we assess data biases such as the digitalisation gap, which impacts the representativity of the workforce in an imbalanced manner, confirming that women are under-represented in Southern Italy. Additionally to confirming the gender disparities to the official census, LinkedIn estimates are a valuable tool to provide dynamic insights; we showed an immigration flow of highly skilled women, predominantly from the South. Digital surveillance of gender inequalities with detailed and timely data is particularly significant to enable policymakers to tailor impactful campaigns.