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Competitive Schools and the Gender Gap in the Choice of Field of Study

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  • Maurin, Eric
  • Ly, Son-Thierry
  • Landaud, Fanny

Abstract

French students have to choose a major field of study at the end of their first year of high school. This is a very important decision as students have little leeway to change their field of study during the two last years of high school. Building on a RD design, this paper reveals that enrollment at a more selective high school, with higher-achieving peers, has no impact on boys' choices, but a very significant impact on girls' ones: they turn away from scientific fields and settle for less competitive and prestigious ones. Estimated effects are very large: an increase of about 10% of a SD in the ability level of high school peers induces a reduction of about 10 percentage points in the proportion of girls who choose to specialize in science. Effects are even larger for girls at the top of the ability distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurin, Eric & Ly, Son-Thierry & Landaud, Fanny, 2016. "Competitive Schools and the Gender Gap in the Choice of Field of Study," CEPR Discussion Papers 11411, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11411
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    Cited by:

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    2. Olivier Monso & Denis Fougère & Pauline Givord & Claudine Pirus, 2019. "Les camarades influencent-ils la réussite et le parcours des élèves ? Une revue de littérature sur les effets de pairs dans l’enseignement primaire et secondaire," Working Papers hal-03456953, HAL.
    3. Shulamit Kahn & Donna Ginther, 2017. "Women and STEM," NBER Working Papers 23525, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Brinkman, Sally & Le, Huong Thu & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2022. "Gender differences in time allocation contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in children and adolescents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Briole, Simon, 2021. "Are girls always good for boys? Short and long term effects of school peers’ gender," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Getik, Demid & Meier, Armando N., 2021. "Early Socialization and the Gender Wage Gap," Working Papers 2021:13, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    7. Goulas, Sofoklis & Griselda, Silvia & Megalokonomou, Rigissa, 2020. "Comparative Advantage and Gender Gap in STEM," IZA Discussion Papers 13313, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. McNally, Sandra, 2020. "Gender Differences in Tertiary Education: What Explains STEM Participation?," IZA Policy Papers 165, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Tao, Hung-Lin & Cheng, Hui-Pei, 2022. "Parental and sibling influence on study field choice: Gender-stereotypical or field preference transmission," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Shen, Kailing, 2021. "Gender Discrimination," IZA Discussion Papers 14897, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2021. "Gender and Educational Achievement: Stylized Facts and Causal Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 14074, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2s5rvqlm849bmb2v0rh9s1q2qg is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Oosterbeek, Hessel & Ruijs, Nienke & de Wolf, Inge, 2023. "Heterogeneous effects of comprehensive vs. single-track academic schools: Evidence from admission lotteries," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    14. Fanny Landaud & Eric Maurin, 2020. "Aim High and Persevere! Competitive Pressure and Access Gaps in Top Science Graduate Programs," Working Papers halshs-03065958, HAL.
    15. Salvanes, Kjell G & , & Liu, Kai, 2022. "Pulled-in and Crowded-out: Heterogeneous Outcomes of Merit-based School Choice," CEPR Discussion Papers 16853, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender gap in science; Selective school;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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