IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v58y2023i5p1679-1711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamics of the Gender Gap in High Math Achievement

Author

Listed:
  • Glenn Ellison
  • Ashley Swanson

Abstract

We examine dynamics in the gender gap in high school mathematics achievement using competition data. A clear gender gap is present by ninth grade, and the gap widens over time. Gender-related differences in dropout rates and in the mean and variance of year-to-year improvement contribute to the widening of the gender gap. The most important difference is that fewer girls make large enough gains to improve their rankings. We also document a discouragement effect: among students falling just short of qualifying for a prestigious second-stage exam, some drop out of future years, and this reaction may be stronger among girls.

Suggested Citation

  • Glenn Ellison & Ashley Swanson, 2023. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap in High Math Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(5), pages 1679-1711.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:58:y:2023:i:5:p:1679-1711
    Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.5.0620-10972R1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/58/5/1679
    Download Restriction: A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Di Tommaso, Maria Laura & Contini, Dalit & De Rosa, Dalila & Ferrara, Francesca & Piazzalunga, Daniela & Robutti, Ornella, 2024. "Tackling the gender gap in mathematics with active learning methodologies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    2. Japneer Kaur, 2025. "Boys at risk of academic decline? Evidence from a longitudinal study," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2025-016, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    3. Japneet Kaur, 2025. "When low scores don't tell the full story: A Composite indicator of student achievement," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2025-008, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    4. Nicholas A. Wright, 2024. "Girls Dominate, Boys Left Behind: Decomposing the Gender Gap in Education Outcomes in Jamaica," Working Papers 2410, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    5. Yang, Liu & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "Online teaching, gender differences and education outcomes: Evidence from Chinese urban high schools during the COVID-19," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 534-553.
    6. Borghans, Lex & Diris, Ron & Tavares, Mariana, 2025. "Time Well Spent? The Role of Test Effort in Explaining Achievement Gaps," IZA Discussion Papers 17734, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:58:y:2023:i:5:p:1679-1711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.