Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics
The leaky pipeline remains a persistent challenge to achieving gender diversity in the economics career. In this study, we contribute to the existing literature by investigating gender differences in academic performance in economics in Brazil in two distinct stages: undergraduate studies and gradu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Estudos Econômicos |
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| Online Access: | https://www.revistas.usp.br/ee/article/view/216713 |
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| author | Fabiana Rocha Paula Pereda Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz Bruna Borges Gabriel Facundes Monteiro Luiza Karpavicius Liz Matsunaga Clara Brenck |
| author_facet | Fabiana Rocha Paula Pereda Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz Bruna Borges Gabriel Facundes Monteiro Luiza Karpavicius Liz Matsunaga Clara Brenck |
| author_sort | Fabiana Rocha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The leaky pipeline remains a persistent challenge to achieving gender diversity in the economics career. In this study, we contribute to the existing literature by investigating gender differences in academic performance in economics in Brazil in two distinct stages: undergraduate studies and graduate admission exams. We use individual-level data from the national admission exam for economics graduate programs (ANPEC exam) and undergraduate records from the University of São Paulo. Women are less likely to rank among the top 100 ANPEC applicants and perform worse than men in all exam subjects. Meanwhile, we find consistent evidence that female students perform similarly to their male counterparts in undergraduate courses with comparable content to those evaluated on the ANPEC exam. Since the students taking the ANPEC exam were exposed to the same higher education program, after controlling for observable characteristics, we can relate the differences in performance to the exam itself rather than to differences in learning abilities. While we cannot identify the source of the performance gap, as the ANPEC exam and undergraduate grading system vary in terms of stakes, grading scheme, risk, and competitiveness (all of which can potentially affect women and men differently), we argue that our evidence suggests the need to reconsider admission exam designs to address the leaky pipeline in economics.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04cbec3278c9464cab5c26a99d4212c3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0101-4161 1980-5357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidade de São Paulo (USP) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Estudos Econômicos |
| spelling | doaj-art-04cbec3278c9464cab5c26a99d4212c32025-01-27T17:37:56ZengUniversidade de São Paulo (USP)Estudos Econômicos0101-41611980-53572024-12-0154410.1590/1980-53575441fpmbgllcGender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economicsFabiana Rocha0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9314-0023Paula Pereda1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6717-9522Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2385-2073Bruna Borges3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2434-9034Gabriel Facundes Monteiro4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7281-1548Luiza Karpavicius5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4596-5052Liz Matsunaga6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8731-1260Clara Brenck7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0110-8668Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia, Administração, Contabilidade e AtuáriaUniversidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia, Administração, Contabilidade e AtuáriaUniversidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia, Administração, Contabilidade e AtuáriaFundação Getulio Vargas. Escola de Economia de São PauloCarnegie Mellon UniversityAarhus UniversityUniversidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Economia, Administração, Contabilidade e AtuáriaUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais The leaky pipeline remains a persistent challenge to achieving gender diversity in the economics career. In this study, we contribute to the existing literature by investigating gender differences in academic performance in economics in Brazil in two distinct stages: undergraduate studies and graduate admission exams. We use individual-level data from the national admission exam for economics graduate programs (ANPEC exam) and undergraduate records from the University of São Paulo. Women are less likely to rank among the top 100 ANPEC applicants and perform worse than men in all exam subjects. Meanwhile, we find consistent evidence that female students perform similarly to their male counterparts in undergraduate courses with comparable content to those evaluated on the ANPEC exam. Since the students taking the ANPEC exam were exposed to the same higher education program, after controlling for observable characteristics, we can relate the differences in performance to the exam itself rather than to differences in learning abilities. While we cannot identify the source of the performance gap, as the ANPEC exam and undergraduate grading system vary in terms of stakes, grading scheme, risk, and competitiveness (all of which can potentially affect women and men differently), we argue that our evidence suggests the need to reconsider admission exam designs to address the leaky pipeline in economics. https://www.revistas.usp.br/ee/article/view/216713GenderExamsHigher educationPipelineWomen in economics |
| spellingShingle | Fabiana Rocha Paula Pereda Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz Bruna Borges Gabriel Facundes Monteiro Luiza Karpavicius Liz Matsunaga Clara Brenck Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics Estudos Econômicos Gender Exams Higher education Pipeline Women in economics |
| title | Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| title_full | Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| title_fullStr | Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| title_short | Gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| title_sort | gender differences in performance under different evaluation schemes and the leaky pipeline in economics |
| topic | Gender Exams Higher education Pipeline Women in economics |
| url | https://www.revistas.usp.br/ee/article/view/216713 |
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