Gender Streaming and Prior Achievement in High School Science and Mathematics

Speaker
Naomi Friedman-Sokuler
Date
09/05/2016 - 12:30 - 11:00Add To Calendar 2016-05-09 11:00:00 2016-05-09 12:30:00 Gender Streaming and Prior Achievement in High School Science and Mathematics Women's underrepresentation in mathematically intensive fields is often attributed to gender differences in mathematical ability. We test this hypothesis using administrative data on two half-cohorts of Israeli eighth-grade students. These students exhibit recognized gendered patterns in their subsequent choice of advanced matriculation electives: girls favour biology and chemistry while boys favour physics and computer science. Linking these choices to eighth-grade standardized test scores, we find that these gendered patterns remain largely intact after controlling for prior achievement, indicating that they are not driven by gender differences in mathematical ability, nor are they explained by boys’ comparative advantage in mathematics. Building 504, Room 011 אוניברסיטת בר-אילן - Department of Economics Economics.Dept@mail.biu.ac.il Asia/Jerusalem public
Place
Building 504, Room 011
Affiliation
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Abstract

Women's underrepresentation in mathematically intensive fields is often attributed to gender differences in mathematical ability. We test this hypothesis using administrative data on two half-cohorts of Israeli eighth-grade students. These students exhibit recognized gendered patterns in their subsequent choice of advanced matriculation electives: girls favour biology and chemistry while boys favour physics and computer science. Linking these choices to eighth-grade standardized test scores, we find that these gendered patterns remain largely intact after controlling for prior achievement, indicating that they are not driven by gender differences in mathematical ability, nor are they explained by boys’ comparative advantage in mathematics.

Last Updated Date : 29/02/2016