Gender gap variation across assessment types : Explanations and implications

• Using Swedish population data, we document that girls outperform boys by a third of a standard deviation in school grades, whereas a gap of similar magnitude but opposite sign persists in SAT scores in the sample of non-randomly selected test takers. We establish that grades capture different attributes than SAT scores, which accounts for much of the variation in gender gaps. A model of SAT participation illustrates how women's greater participation-driven by traits not rewarded by higher scores-leads to their negative selection on observed and unobserved traits. We explore the quantitative importance of this mechanism and conclude that while selection is important, it fails to account for a substantial fraction of the gender gap in SAT scores, suggesting the possibility that the SAT penalizes women.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Gender gaps

gaps Student assessment

Cognitive skills

Non-cognitive skills

University admissions

Selection

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)