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Understanding the impact of gender and migration on high-ability students’ behavior: Exploring behavioral differences in business, law, and engineering students throughout their academic careers

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Beck-Werz

    (University of Paderborn)

  • Bernd Frick

    (University of Paderborn)

  • Thomas Fritz

    (FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences)

  • Fabian Lensing

    (University of Paderborn)

Abstract

Using a large sample with detailed information on 32,296 high-ability business, law, and engineering students, we explore gender- and migration-related differences in behaviour to better understand the persistent under-representation of women and migrants in the executive suites of German companies. Since in this homogenous group of ‘high-achievers‘, students are quite similar in their intellectual abilities, observable differences in behaviour can be mainly attributed to differences in gender- and migration-related preference patterns. We find that irrespective of migration background, men are more likely to pursue activities that increase their human capital, such as completing a doctorate, while women tend to engage in lower-level temporary jobs and complete their studies faster. In contrast, in this selective sample of high-ability students, migration background has a marginal effect on students’ behaviour only. Perhaps most surprising, we find that the behaviour of women with a migration background – who potentially face ‘double discrimination‘ – is not different from that of their male peers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Beck-Werz & Bernd Frick & Thomas Fritz & Fabian Lensing, 2022. "Understanding the impact of gender and migration on high-ability students’ behavior: Exploring behavioral differences in business, law, and engineering students throughout their academic careers," Working Papers Dissertations 83, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:83
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    High-ability students; higher education; gender gap; migration; education; intersectionality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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