Abstract We analyze changes in the gender structure at the top of the earnings distribution in the United States over the last 30 years using a 10% sample of individual earnings histories from the Social Security Administration. Despite making large inroads, females still constitute a small proportion of the top percentiles: the glass ceiling, albeit a thinner one, remains. We measure the contribution of changes in labor force participation, changes in the persistence of top earnings, and changes in industry and age composition to the change in the gender composition of top earners. A large proportion of the increased share of females among top earners is accounted for by the mending of, what we refer to as, the paper floor - the phenomenon whereby female top earners were much more likely than male top earners to drop out of the top percentiles. We also provide new evidence at the top of the earnings distribution for both genders: the rising share of top earnings accruing to workers in the Finance and Insurance industry, the relative transitory status of top earners, the emergence of top earnings gender gaps over the life cycle, and gender differences among lifetime top earners. Presenter Greg Kaplan is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Princeton University. He has previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and as an Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He has a PhD (Economics) from New York University, an MSc (Economics) from the London School of Economics and a BCom (Actuarial) Hons (Finance) from Macquarie University. He is currently a visiting scholar at the University of New South Wales. Greg's research focuses on quantitative macroeconomics, with an emphasis on inequality, labor markets and fiscal policy. If you would like to attend, please complete the online booking form below.