Gender Role Models in Education

Sofoklis Goulas, Bhagya N. Gunawardena, Rigissa Megalokonomou and Yves Zenou

No 11330, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Using Greek administrative data, we examine the impact of being randomly assigned to a classroom with a same-gender top-performing student on both short- and long-term educational outcomes. These top performers are tasked with keeping classroom attendance records, which positions them as role models. Both male and female students are influenced by the performance of a same-gender top performer and experience both spillover and conformist effects. However, only female students show significant positive effects from the presence of a same-gender role model. Specifically, female students improved their science test scores by 4 percent of a standard deviation, were 2.5 percentage points more likely to choose a STEM track, and were more likely to apply for and enroll in a STEM university degree 3 years later. These effects were most pronounced in lower-income neighborhoods. Our findings suggest that same-gender peer role models could reduce the underrepresentation of qualified females in STEM fields by approximately 3 percent. We further validate our findings through a lab-in-the-field experiment, in which students rated the perceived influence of randomized hypothetical top-performer profiles. The results suggest that the influence of same-gender top performers is primarily driven by exposure-related factors (increased perception of distinction feasibility and self-confidence) rather than direct interactions.

Keywords: gender gap; lab-in-the-field experiment; natural experiment; random peer group formation; role models; self-confidence; STEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I26 J16 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-mac and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp11330.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Gender Role Models in Education (2024)
Working Paper: Gender Role Models in Education (2024)
Working Paper: Gender Role Models in Education (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11330

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Klaus Wohlrabe ().