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Mind the Confidence Gap: Gender, Domain-Specific Self-Beliefs, and STEM Pathways

Author

Listed:
  • Hecker, Britta

    (IAB and the University of Bamberg)

  • Shure, Nikki

    (University College London)

  • Yükselen Saif, Ipek

    (formerly IAB and University of Bamberg)

Abstract

We examine how adolescents' domain-specific confidence shapes subsequent participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) study and vocational training, using longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of German secondary school students. We show that domain-specific confidence measures provide markedly different predictions from composite confidence indices: in line with established models from educational psychology, higher confidence in mathematics and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) increase the likelihood of entering STEM pathways, whereas higher confidence in reading decreases it. These opposing patterns are obscured when confidence is aggregated into a single measure. Our findings demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between domains when studying non-cognitive determinants of STEM choices and suggest that broad confidence-building interventions may unintentionally reinforce existing gender disparities in STEM participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hecker, Britta & Shure, Nikki & Yükselen Saif, Ipek, 2026. "Mind the Confidence Gap: Gender, Domain-Specific Self-Beliefs, and STEM Pathways," IZA Discussion Papers 18535, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18535
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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