Outrunning the Gender Gap – Boys and Girls Compete Equally

Anna Dreber, Emma von Essen () and Eva Ranehill ()
Additional contact information
Eva Ranehill: Stockholm School of Economics, Postal: Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, 113 63 Stockholm, Sweden

No 2009:17, Research Papers in Economics from Stockholm University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Recent studies find that women are less competitive than men. This gender difference in competitiveness has been suggested as one possible explanation for why men occupy the majority of top positions in many sectors. In this study we explore competitiveness in children, with the premise that both context and gendered stereotypes regarding the task at hand may influence competitive behavior. A related field experiment on Israeli children shows that only boys react to competition by running faster when competing in a race. We here test if there is a gender gap in running among 7-10 year old Swedish children. We also introduce two female sports, skipping rope and dancing, to see if competitiveness is task dependent. We find no gender difference in reaction to competition in any task; boys and girls compete equally. Studies in different environments with different types of tasks are thus important in order to make generalizable claims about gender differences in competitiveness.

Keywords: competitiveness; gender differences; field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2009-10-19, Revised 2011-02-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lab and nep-spo
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Outrunning the gender gap—boys and girls compete equally (2011)
Working Paper: Outrunning the Gender Gap – Boys and Girls Compete Equally (2011)
Working Paper: Outrunning the Gender Gap – Boys and Girls Compete Equally (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2009_0017

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