Do mentoring, information, and nudge reduce the gender gap in economics majors?

Hsueh-Hsiang Li

Economics of Education Review, 2018, vol. 64, issue C, 165-183

Abstract: The gender gap in economics majors (i.e., male students are much more likely to major in economics than are their female counterparts) has remained large, despite narrowing gaps observed in many other fields. This study examines whether mentoring, the provision of additional information, and nudges help reduce the gender gap in economics majors via a randomized controlled experiment conducted in introductory economics classes at a large, public, four-year institution in the United States. The results show that the treatment effects are heterogeneous and have the most significant impact on female students with grades above the median. The treatments increase these female students’ probability of majoring in economics by 5.41–6.27 percentage points.

Keywords: Gender gap; Educational economics; College major; Randomized controlled trial; Experiment; Subjective belief (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A22 J16 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:64:y:2018:i:c:p:165-183

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.04.004

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