Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Shi, Ying

Titel

The puzzle of missing female engineers: Academic preparation, ability beliefs, and preferences

Ist Teil von

• Economics of education review, 2018-06, Vol.64 (June), p.129-143

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •I use multiple US datasets to describe explanatory factors underlying the engineering gender gap.•The gap is driven by differential entry in secondary school, not postsecondary exit.•Females are less likely to convert engineering interest in high school to major choice in college.•Differences in ability beliefs explain 8% of gender gap.•14% is explained by differences in prosocial and professional preferences. This paper uses administrative North Carolina data linked from high school to college and national surveys to characterize the largest contributor to the STEM gender gap: engineering. Disparities are the result of differential entry during high school or earlier rather than postsecondary exit. Differences in pre-college academic preparation account for 5 to 7% of the gap. Females’ relative lack of academic self-confidence explains 8%, while other-regarding preferences and professional goals capture a further 14%. Empirical evidence using identifying variation in the gender composition of twins in North Carolina shows that opposite-sex pairs are more likely to pursue gender-stereotypical majors.