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Educational Gender Gaps

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  • Lundberg, Shelly

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Abstract

Cross-country studies reveal two consistent gender gaps in education—underachievement in school by boys and low rates of participation in STEM studies by girls. Recent economics research has shown the importance of social influences on women's STEM avoidance, but male low achievement has been less-studied and tends to be attributed to behavior problems and deficient non-cognitive skills. I revisit the determinants of the gender gap in U.S. educational attainment with a relatively-advantaged sample of young men and women and find that school behavior and measured skills are not very important drivers of gender differences, particularly in the transition to college. Educational aspirations, on the other hand, are strongly predictive of educational gaps and the gender difference in aspirations cannot be explained, even with rich adolescent data that includes parental expectations and school achievement indicators. These results suggest that gender identity concerns may influence (and damage) the educational prospects of boys as well as girls through norms of masculinity that discourage academic achievement.

Suggested Citation

  • Lundberg, Shelly, 2020. "Educational Gender Gaps," IZA Discussion Papers 13630, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13630
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    2. Molly Paterson & Jaai Parasnis & Michelle Rendall, 2022. "Gender, Income, and Numeracy Test Scores," Monash Economics Working Papers 2022-02, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Watson, Barry & Kong, Nancy & Phipps, Shelley, 2022. "Dreaming of a Brighter Future? The Impact of Economic Vulnerability on University Aspirations," IZA Discussion Papers 15539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Nicholas A. Wright, 2024. "Girls Dominate, Boys Left Behind: Decomposing the Gender Gap in Education Outcomes in Jamaica," Working Papers 2410, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    5. Griselda, Silvia, 2024. "Gender gap in standardized tests: What are we measuring?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 191-229.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aspirations; gender; school achievement; gender identity; education; college graduation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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