Girls Helping Girls: The Impact of Female Peers on Grades and Educational Choices

Pal Schone (pal.schone@samfunnsforskning.no), Kristine von Simson (k.v.simson@samfunnsforskning.no) and Marte Strom (marte.strom@samfunnsforskning.no)
Additional contact information
Pal Schone: Institute for Social Research, Oslo
Kristine von Simson: Institute for Social Research, Oslo
Marte Strom: Institute for Social Research, Oslo

No 10586, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use idiosyncratic variation in gender composition across cohorts within Norwegian lower-secondary schools to analyze the impact of female peers on students' grades and choices of STEM subjects. We find that more female peers in lower secondary increases girls' probability of choosing STEM-courses in upper secondary, and the effect on choices is larger than the effect on grades. Survey evidence suggests that a potential mechanism is an improved classroom environment. Boys' performance is negatively affected by more female peers. They also start upper secondary later and more often choose vocational studies.

Keywords: gender; education; peer effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2017-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur, nep-gen, nep-soc and nep-ure
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