Competitive Schools and the Gender Gap in the Choice of Field of Study

64 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2016

See all articles by Fanny Landaud

Fanny Landaud

CNRS and THEMA CY Cergy University

Son-Thierry Ly

Paris School of Economics (PSE)

Eric Maurin

Paris School of Economics (PSE); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: July 2016

Abstract

French students have to choose a major field of study at the end of their first year of high school. This is a very important decision as students have little leeway to change their field of study during the two last years of high school. Building on a RD design, this paper reveals that enrollment at a more selective high school, with higher-achieving peers, has no impact on boys' choices, but a very significant impact on girls' ones: they turn away from scientific fields and settle for less competitive and prestigious ones. Estimated effects are very large: an increase of about 10% of a SD in the ability level of high school peers induces a reduction of about 10 percentage points in the proportion of girls who choose to specialize in science. Effects are even larger for girls at the top of the ability distribution.

Keywords: Gender gap in science, selective school

JEL Classification: I21, I24, I28

Suggested Citation

Landaud, Fanny and Ly, Son-Thierry and Maurin, Eric, Competitive Schools and the Gender Gap in the Choice of Field of Study (July 2016). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP11411, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2814086

Fanny Landaud (Contact Author)

CNRS and THEMA CY Cergy University ( email )

Cergy
France

Son-Thierry Ly

Paris School of Economics (PSE) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France

Eric Maurin

Paris School of Economics (PSE) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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