A study examines the role of comparative advantage in math versus reading to explain the gender gap in STEM. Women remain underrepresented in math-related fields. However, students' abilities do not explain gender differences in educational and career choices. Using individual-level data from 300,000 15-year-old students in 64 countries from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment, Thomas Breda and Clotilde Napp found that female students who are proficient in math are more likely to be even more proficient in reading than male colleagues. Two-thirds of boys, but only 30% of girls, are more proficient in math than in reading. This gender gap in comparative advantage for math over reading may explain up to 80% of the gender gap in intentions to pursue math studies and careers, and may also explain the gender gaps in attitudes toward math at the age of 15. The findings suggest that the comparative advantage in math over reading at the time students make educational choices, which is likely to be determined by earlier socialization processes, plays a key role in women's underrepresentation in math-intensive fields, according to the authors.
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Article #19-05779: "Girls' comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-related fields," by Thomas Breda and Clotilde Napp.
MEDIA CONTACT: Thomas Breda, Paris School of Economics, FRANCE; email: thomas.breda@ens.fr
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences