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When Sarah Meets Lawrence: The Effects of Coeducation on Women's College Major Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Avery Calkins
  • Ariel J. Binder
  • Dana Shaat
  • Brenden Timpe

Abstract

We leverage variation in the adoption of coeducation by US women's colleges to study how exposure to a mixed-gender collegiate environment affects women's human capital investments. Our event-study analyses of newly collected historical data find a 3.0–3.5 percentage point (30–33 percent) decline in the share of women majoring in STEM fields. While coeducation caused a large influx of male peers and a modest increase in male faculty, we find no evidence that it altered the composition of the female student body or other gender-neutral inputs. Extrapolation of our main estimate suggests that coeducational environments explain 36 percent of the current gender gap in STEM majors.

Suggested Citation

  • Avery Calkins & Ariel J. Binder & Dana Shaat & Brenden Timpe, 2023. "When Sarah Meets Lawrence: The Effects of Coeducation on Women's College Major Choices," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 1-34, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:1-34
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20210692
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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