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Girls' comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-intensive fields

Napp, Clotilde; Thomas, Breda (2019), Girls' comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-intensive fields, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 31, p. 15435-15440. 10.1073/pnas.1905779116

Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Date
2019
Journal name
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
116
Number
31
Publisher
National Academy of sciences
Pages
15435-15440
Publication identifier
10.1073/pnas.1905779116
Metadata
Show full item record
Author(s)
Napp, Clotilde cc
Dauphine Recherches en Management [DRM]
Thomas, Breda cc
Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques [PJSE]
Abstract (EN)
Gender differences in math performance are now small in developed countries and they cannot explain on their own the strong under-representation of women in math-related fields. This latter result is however no longer true once gender differences in reading performance are also taken into account. Using individual-level data on 300,000 15-year-old students in 64 countries, we show that the difference between a student performance in reading and math is 80% of a standard deviation larger for girls than boys, a magnitude considered as very large. When this difference is controlled for, the gender gap in students' intentions to pursue math-intensive studies and careers is reduced by around 75%, while gender gaps in self-concept in math, declared interest for math or attitudes towards math entirely disappear. These latter variables are also much less able to explain the gender gap in intentions to study math than is students' difference in performance between math and reading. These results are in line with choice models in which educational decisions involve intra-individual comparisons of achievement and self-beliefs in different subjects as well as cultural norms regarding gender. To directly show that intra-individual comparisons of achievement impact students' intended careers, we use differences across schools in teaching resources dedicated to math and reading as exogenous variations of students comparative advantage for math. Results confirm that the comparative advantage in math with respect to reading at the time of making educational choices plays a key role in the process leading to women's under-representation in math-intensive fields.
Subjects / Keywords
students' achievement; educational decisions; gender differences
JEL
J16 - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
I29 - Other

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