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Teaching accreditation exams reveal grading biases favor women in male-dominated disciplines in France

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Breda

    (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Mélina Hillion

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

Discrimination against women is seen as one of the possible causes behind their underrepresentation in certain STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. We show that this is not the case for the competitive exams used to recruit almost all French secondary and postsecondary teachers and professors. Comparisons of oral non–gender-blind tests with written gender-blind tests for about 100,000 individuals observed in 11 different fields over the period 2006–2013 reveal a bias in favor of women that is strongly increasing with the extent of a field's male-domination. This bias turns from 3 to 5 percentile ranks for men in literature and foreign languages to about 10 percentile ranks for women in math, physics, or philosophy. These findings have implications for the debate over what interventions are appropriate to increase the representation of women in fields in which they are currently underrepresented.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Breda & Mélina Hillion, 2016. "Teaching accreditation exams reveal grading biases favor women in male-dominated disciplines in France," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01379340, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-01379340
    DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4372
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    Cited by:

    1. Jean-Baptiste Vilain, 2018. "Three essays in applied economics," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/64devegb4f8, Sciences Po.
    2. Meurs, Dominique & Puhani, Patrick A., 2021. "Culture as a Hiring Criterion: Systemic Discrimination in a Procedurally Fair Hiring Process," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-682, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    3. Pierre Deschamps, 2018. "Gender Quotas in Hiring Committees: a Boon or a Bane for Women?," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03393117, HAL.
    4. Thomas Breda & Julien Grenet & Marion Monnet & Clémentine van Effenterre, 2023. "How Effective are Female Role Models in Steering Girls towards STEM? Evidence from French High Schools," Working Papers halshs-01713068, HAL.
    5. Jean-Baptiste Vilain, 2018. "Three essays in applied economics [Trois essais en économie appliquée]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03419493, HAL.
    6. Souleymane Mbaye, 2019. "Trois évaluations d’actions de lutte contre les discriminations," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph19-01 edited by Pascale Petit, February.
    7. Nathalie Greenan & Joseph Lanfranchi & Yannick L'Horty & Mathieu Narcy & Guillaume Pierné, 2016. "Inégalités et discriminations dans l’accès à la fonction publique d’Etat : une évaluation par l’analyse des fichiers administratifs de concours," TEPP Research Report 2016-06, TEPP.
    8. Ozan Yüksel Tektas & Lorenz Kapsner & Miriam Lemmer & Polyxeni Bouna-Pyrrou & Piotr Lewczuk & Bernd Lenz & Johannes Kornhuber, 2019. "Digit ratio (2D:4D) and academic success as measured by achievement in the academic degree “Habilitation”," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Dominique Cappelletti & Maria Vittoria Levati & Matteo Ploner, 2022. "Math ability, gender stereotypes about math ability, and educational choices. Combining experimental and survey data," Working Papers 07/2022, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    10. Nathalie Greenan & Joseph Lanfranchi & Yannick L'Horty & Mathieu Narcy & Guillaume Pierne, 2019. "L'analyse des données de concours au regard des discriminations à l'entrée dans la Fonction Publique d’État," Working Papers halshs-02149277, HAL.
    11. Pierre Deschamps, 2018. "Gender Quotas in Hiring Committees: a Boon or a Bane for Women?," SciencePo Working papers hal-03393117, HAL.
    12. Delaney, Judith M. & Devereux, Paul J., 2023. "Gender Differences in Teacher Judgement of Comparative Advantage," IZA Discussion Papers 16635, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Pierre Deschamps, 2018. "Gender Quotas in Hiring Committees: a Boon or a Bane for Women?," Post-Print hal-03393117, HAL.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/64devegb4f8l7a342ageb19ehc is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7bucmgmilh9ul9ogmiku5legh5 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Jean-Baptiste Vilain, 2018. "Three essays in applied economics [Trois essais en économie appliquée]," SciencePo Working papers tel-03419493, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Discrimination; Woman;

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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