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Math and Gender
Luigi GuisoFerdinando MontePaola SapienzaLuigi Zingales
Motivation
There are well-established gender differences in math and reading test performance. What is the cause? Environment Biology
Strongest argument for biology is the existence of some gender differences in cognitive abilities Men better at
aiming spatial ability
Men worse at verbal fluency and recall
These cognitive abilities linked to biological differences between gender.
If they can be linked to math and reading abilities biology argument.
Recent revival
Debate traditionally intense: why so few women in top science departments? MIT: Only 8% are women in science (Biology, Physics,
Mathematics etc.) Only one out 38 professors in the Math department!
(Gigliola Staffilani) Debate recently revived by Larry Summer, ex
Harvard President, who ventured to argue that from a pure scientific point of view one cannot exclude there is a biological component Because of this he lost his job as Harvard President Because of this his appointment as Obama’s lead
economic advisor has been heavily criticized
Facts & actors
3.5
44
.55
5.5
14
16
18
20
22
68
10
50 60 70 80 50 60 70 80 50 60 70 80
Recall Fluency Numeracy
Men Women
Test score
age
Larry Summers
Approach
Cognitive differences have been found in all the populations (except the Inuit or Yupik )
But environmental (cultural) differences across countries are huge
Use a large sample of comparable data across countries with different attitudes toward women to determine how much of the difference in performance is environmental
PISA (Program for International Student Assessment)
276.000 students in 41 countries tested at age 15
In 2003, 4 tests: math, problem solving, science, reading
Lots of data on Intrinsic motivation (taste - driven) Extrinsic motivation (instrument driven) Stress levels
Tests are “culture free”
Math tests
Scores reflect ability to apply mathematics in solving real-life problems
Questions in math cover: “space and shape” (geometry) “change and relationship” (algebra) “quantity” (arithmetic) “uncertainty” (probability)
in a range of difficulty that goes from the need of simple mathematical operations to complex thinking.
Math scores scaled to have mean of 500 and standard deviation of 100 in the OECD students’ population.
Gender Gap in MathDensities Mathematics test scores
World level
0.00E+00
5.00E-04
1.00E-03
1.50E-03
2.00E-03
2.50E-03
3.00E-03
3.50E-03
4.00E-03
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850
score
Males
Females
Gender Gap in ReadingDensities Reading test scores
World level
0.00E+00
5.00E-04
1.00E-03
1.50E-03
2.00E-03
2.50E-03
3.00E-03
3.50E-03
4.00E-03
4.50E-03
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900
score
Males
Females
Focus
Focus so far within countriesAt this level a gender gap in math (almost)
in all countries But there are marked differences in the
size of these gaps across countries.
Why?They have been overlooked Explaining them is our focus
Gender Gap in Math by Country
-35
-30
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
Liech
tens
tein
Kore
a, R
epub
lic o
fM
acao
- Ch
inaG
reec
eSl
ovak
Rep
ublic
Italy
Luxe
mbo
urg
Switz
erlan
dDe
nmar
kBr
azil
Turk
eyCz
ech
Rep
ublic Ire
land
New
Zeala
ndPo
rtuga
lTu
nisia
Urug
uay
Cana
daM
exico
Russ
iaG
erm
any
Spain
Fran
ceJa
pan
Hung
ary
Aust
riaBe
lgium
Finla
ndUn
ited
King
dom
Swed
en USA
Norw
ayPo
land
Aust
ralia
Neth
erlan
dsHo
ng K
ong
- Chin
aIn
done
sia Latv
iaSe
rbia
and
Mon
tene
gro Th
ailan
dIc
eland
ITALY
Measures of Women Emancipation
1) Gender gap index from the Global Competitiveness Report (WEF, 2006):
2) World Value Survey: • percentage of people that "disagree" with assertions
like "When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women".
3) Participation to the labor force (UNESCO)4) Female-to-male ratio of tertiary enrollment
(UNESCO)
Women emancipation index by Country
Women Emancipation Index
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41
Women emancipation index
Country
CGI
TURKEY
SWEDENITALY
Math Gender Gap and GGI
AUS
AUTBEL
BRA
CAN
CHE
CZEDEUDNK
ESP
FINFRA
GBR
GRC
HUN
IDN
IRL
ISL
ITAJPNKOR
LUX
LVAMEX
NLDNOR
NZL
POLPRTRUS
SVK
SWE
THA
TUN
TUR
URYUSA
-30
-20
-10
010
20
.6 .65 .7 .75 .8Women emancipaiton (GGI)
gender difference in math Fitted values
Math Gender Gap and Women Participation
AUS
AUTBEL
BRA
CAN
CHE
CZEDEU DNK
ESP
FINFRA
GBR
GRC
HKGHUN
IDN
IRL
ISL
ITA JPNKOR
LUX
LVAMEX
NLDNOR
NZL
POLPRTRUS
SVK
SWE
THA
TUN
TUR
URYUSA
YUG
-30
-20
-10
01
02
0
30 40 50 60 70female economic activity rate
gender difference in math Fitted values
It is not just economic development
We run the regression at the individual level
Insert country dummies (that control for all the possible institutional differences)
Insert the interaction between gender and GGI
The interaction is positive and statistically significant => effect robust to other institutional differences
Effect economic sizeable
Raising Turkey women emancipation to the level prevailing in Sweden would close the math gender gap!
Interestingly, increased women emancipation not only improves the math gap but also strengthens women advantage in reading Women’s performance improves across the board Men performance is no worse
What is unaffected is the within gender relative performance: Women do relatively better in reading than in math and men
vice versa, independently of society’s women emancipation
How does women emancipation affect scores ?
1) Economic channel: Higher payoff -> higher investment more hours in homework and classes more effort in each class
2) Psychological channel -> More self confidenceLess anxiety
How does women emancipation affect scores ?
3) Educational channel Teaching style DisciplineDifferent approach to subjects
4) Sociological channel Role modelPeer pressure
1) Economic channel
Does women emancipation increase:
1) Hours spent by women in math courses? NO
2) Hours spent by women in math homework? NO
3) Effort put by women in studying math(measured as the marginal effect of an extra
hour of class)? NO
2) Psychological channel
Does women emancipation increaseWomen intrinsic motivation? Women extrinsic motivation? Women self-confidence?
Or decreaseWomen level of anxiety?
Variables
Self assessments (To what extent do you agree with a bunch of statements) of Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Self confidence 1 (self concept) Self confidence 2 (self efficacy)Anxiety
Variables definitions:
Intrinsic motivation: 1. I enjoy reading about mathematics. (+)2. I look forward to my mathematics lessons. (+)3. I do mathematics because I enjoy it. (+)4. I am interested in the things I learn in mathematics. (+)
Extrinsic motivation: 1. Making an effort in mathematics is worth it because it will
help me in the work that I want to do later on. (+)2. Learning mathematics is worthwhile for me because it
will improve my career <prospects, chances>. (+)3. Mathematics is an important subject for me because I
need it for what I want to study later on. (+)4. I will learn many things in mathematics that will help me
get a job. (+)
Variable definitions:
• Self efficacy: • How confident do you feel about having to do the
following calculations? […]
Self-concept I am just not good at mathematics. I get good <marks> in mathematics. (+) I learn mathematics quickly. (+) I have always believed that mathematics is one of my best
subjects. (+) In my mathematics class, I understand even the most
difficult work. (+)
Variable definitions:
Anxiety I often worry that it will be difficult for me in
mathematics classes. (+) I get very tense when I have to do mathematics
homework. (+) I get very nervous doing mathematics problems. (+) I feel helpless when doing a mathematics problem.
(+) I worry that I will get poor <marks> in mathematics.
(+)
Female-Male Gap
Variable Female-Male GapIntrinsic motivation -0.21***Extrinsic motivation -0.28***
Self-concept -0.31***Self-efficacy -0.35***
Anxiety 0.26***
Results
Motivation and anxiety matter But no evidence that women emancipation
works through an increase in intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, an increase in self confidence, or a reduction in anxiety
In fact, where women are more emancipated they have lower relative self concept in math higher math anxiety
3) Educational channel
DisciplineCorrelation between women emancipation and
discipline? No correlation Different approaches to subjects (more
emphasis in math)Correlation between women emancipation and
importance of math? No correlation Differences in teaching style
Foster different learning environments? No correlation
4) Sociological channel
We compute the average math score of the other boys and the other girls in the same school.
We run a micro level regression of math scores on these variables (level and interacted with gender) for each country
Estimate reflects the importance in that country of the role model (or peer effect)
Pure differential peer effect and GGI
IRL
PRT
DNKFIN
USA
SWE
BRA
HUN
ISL
ESP
LVA
CAN
GRC
GBR
NZL
NLDPOL
BELJPN
CZEKOR
SVK
TUR
NOR
CHE
URY
DEU
RUSTHA
ITA
-.6
-.4
-.2
0.2
.4
.6 .65 .7 .75 .8Gender Gap Index 2006
Pure differential peer effect Fitted values
Results
Pure differential peer effect less important in countries with higher GGI
Consistent with the idea that role models are different in more emancipated countries
=> in countries with more women emancipation, women performance in math less (positively) affected by the performance of other girls and less (negatively) affected by that of other boys
Looking forward
Very recently Steven Levitt has looked at this issue again. He finds that Using US panel data, a gender gap emerges early
at school=> kids perform initially equal but a gap emerges as they grow older
Confirms our findings in a different dataset when he uses the same countries
But correlation with women emancipation disappears when Muslin countries are added!
Why?
Looking forward
In Muslin countries male and female go to same-sex schools
girls do not lag boys in countries with same-sex schooling, even if in the countries where women are much less emancipated
Not exposing them to men seems to be enough to avoid the effect of culture on gender gap in math
Conclusions
We identify a strong cultural factor in women test performance
Where women are treated more equally, they exhibit a stronger absolute advantage in reading and a weaker absolute disadvantage in math.
This positive effect does not work through: Standard economic incentives Psychological effects Different educational styles
Most plausible channel seems a role model effect