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Parental Investments in Early Childhood and the Gender Gap in Math and Literacy

Author

Listed:
  • Amanda Chuan
  • John A. List
  • Anya Samek
  • Shreemayi Samujjwala

Abstract

Parental investments shape children's educational specializations. Using a longitudinal study, we find that parents invest more in daughters than sons at ages three through five. We find that early parental investment can explain persistently higher English scores for girls than boys four to six years later. However, there is no gender gap in math. Parental investments at ages three through five appear to contribute to girls' advantage in English but have little impact on math. Our results suggest that parental investments at early ages contributes to girls' comparative advantage in English.

Suggested Citation

  • Amanda Chuan & John A. List & Anya Samek & Shreemayi Samujjwala, 2022. "Parental Investments in Early Childhood and the Gender Gap in Math and Literacy," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 603-608, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:112:y:2022:p:603-08
    DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221036
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2016. "Boy-Girl Differences in Parental Time Investments: Evidence from Three Countries," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 399-441.
    2. Lenka Fiala & John Eric Humphries & Juanna Schrøter Joensen & Uditi Karna & John A. List & Gregory F. Veramendi, 2022. "How Early Adolescent Skills and Preferences Shape Economics Education Choices," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 609-613, May.
    3. John A. List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Shifting Parental Beliefs," NBER Working Papers 29394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Roland Fryer & Steven Levitt & John List, 2015. "Parental Incentives and Early Childhood Achievement: A Field Experiment in Chicago Heights," Framed Field Experiments 00587, The Field Experiments Website.
    5. John List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Changing Parental Beliefs," Framed Field Experiments 00740, The Field Experiments Website.
    6. Breda, Thomas & Napp, Clotilde, 2019. "Girls' Comparative Advantage in Reading Can Largely Account for the Gender Gap in Math-Intensive Fields," IZA Discussion Papers 12503, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Clotilde Napp & Thomas Breda, 2019. "Girls' comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-intensive fields," Post-Print hal-02307506, HAL.
    8. Thomas Breda & Clotilde Napp, 2019. "Girls’ comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-related fields," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(31), pages 15435-15440, July.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Girls Excel in Language Arts Early, Which May Explain the STEM Gender Gap in Adults
      by ? in ScienceBlog.com on 2022-04-20 13:39:14

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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