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Gender Gaps in Early Educational Achievement

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  • Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.

    (University of Sydney)

  • Moschion, Julie

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the source of the gender gap in third grade numeracy and reading. We adopt an Oaxaca-Blinder approach and decompose the gender gap in educational achievement into endowment and response components. Our estimation relies on unusually rich panel data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children in which information on child development reported by parents and teachers is linked to each child's results on a national, standardized achievement test. We find that girls in low- and middle-SES families have an advantage in reading, while boys in high-SES families have an advantage in numeracy. Girls score higher on their third grade reading tests in large part because they were more ready for school at age four and had better teacher-assessed literacy skills in kindergarten. Boys' advantage in numeracy occurs because they achieve higher numeracy test scores than girls with the same education-related characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Moschion, Julie, 2015. "Gender Gaps in Early Educational Achievement," IZA Discussion Papers 9535, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9535
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    Cited by:

    1. Gevrek, Z. Eylem & Gevrek, Deniz & Neumeier, Christian, 2020. "Explaining the gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitudes: The role of societal gender equality," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Huong Thu Le & Ha Trong Nguyen, 2018. "The evolution of the gender test score gap through seventh grade: new insights from Australia using unconditional quantile regression and decomposition," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-42, December.
    3. Britta Rude, 2024. "Middle-run educational impacts of comprehensive early childhood interventions: evidence from a pioneer program in Chile," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-30, June.
    4. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    5. Thomas Breda & Joyce Sultan Parraud & Lola Touitou, 2024. "Early Gendered Performance Gaps in Math: An Investigation on French Data," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-04414597, HAL.
    6. NoghaniBehambari, Hamid & Tavassoli, Nahid & noghani, farzaneh, 2020. "Intergenerational Transmission of Culture among Immigrants: Gender Gap in Education among First and Second Generations," MPRA Paper 105265, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Paterson, Molly & Parasnis, Jaai & Rendall, Michelle, 2022. "Gender, Income, and Numeracy Test Scores," CEPR Discussion Papers 16895, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Rebekka Rühle, 2022. "Mind the gap – an analysis of gender differences in mathematics and science achievement in South Africa," Working Papers 04/2022, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    9. tavassoli, nahid & noghani, farzaneh & noghanibehambari, hamid, 2022. "Gender Gap in Education as a Portable Cultural Element: Evidence from First and Second Generation Immigrants," MPRA Paper 113514, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal & Pastore, Francesco, 2020. "Gender Wage Gap - A Matching Analysis for Three MENA Countries: Egypt, Jordan and Turkey," IZA Discussion Papers 13934, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Warn N. Lekfuangfu & Grace Lordan, 2023. "Documenting occupational sorting by gender in the UK across three cohorts: does a grand convergence rely on societal movements?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2215-2256, May.
    12. Qianqian Wang & Tsun-Feng Chiang & Jing Jian Xiao, 2024. "Attitude toward gender inequality in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Hofmeyr, Heleen, 2022. "Why do girls do better? Unpacking South Africa’s gender gap in PIRLS and TIMSS," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. Hamid NoghaniBehambari & Nahid Tavassoli & Farzaneh Noghani, 2021. "Intergenerational transmission of culture among immigrants: Gender gap in education among first and second generations," Papers 2101.05364, arXiv.org.
    15. Heleen Hofmeyr, 2020. "South Africa’s Pro-Girl Gap in PIRLS and TIMSS: How Much Can Be Explained?," Working Papers 17/2020, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    16. Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Nollenberger, Natalia, 2018. "Let the girls learn! It is not only about math … it's about gender social norms," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 230-253.
    17. Guo, Hao & Hu, Chenxu & Ding, Xiaozhou, 2022. "Son preference, intrahousehold discrimination, and the gender gap in education in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 324-339.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender gaps; educational achievement; education; Australia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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