Math and Gender

Luigi GuisoFerdinando MontePaola SapienzaLuigi Zingales

Motivation

There are well-established gender differences in math and reading test performance. What is the cause? Environment Biology

Strongest argument for biology is the existence of some gender differences in cognitive abilities Men better at

aiming spatial ability

Men worse at verbal fluency and recall

These cognitive abilities linked to biological differences between gender.

If they can be linked to math and reading abilities biology argument.

Recent revival

Debate traditionally intense: why so few women in top science departments? MIT: Only 8% are women in science (Biology, Physics,

Mathematics etc.) Only one out 38 professors in the Math department!

(Gigliola Staffilani) Debate recently revived by Larry Summer, ex

Harvard President, who ventured to argue that from a pure scientific point of view one cannot exclude there is a biological component Because of this he lost his job as Harvard President Because of this his appointment as Obama’s lead

economic advisor has been heavily criticized

Facts & actors

3.5

44

.55

5.5

14

16

18

20

22

68

10

50 60 70 80 50 60 70 80 50 60 70 80

Recall Fluency Numeracy

Men Women

Test score

age

Larry Summers

Approach

Cognitive differences have been found in all the populations (except the Inuit or Yupik )

But environmental (cultural) differences across countries are huge

Use a large sample of comparable data across countries with different attitudes toward women to determine how much of the difference in performance is environmental

PISA (Program for International Student Assessment)

276.000 students in 41 countries tested at age 15

In 2003, 4 tests: math, problem solving, science, reading

Lots of data on Intrinsic motivation (taste - driven) Extrinsic motivation (instrument driven) Stress levels

Tests are “culture free”

Math tests

Scores reflect ability to apply mathematics in solving real-life problems

Questions in math cover: “space and shape” (geometry) “change and relationship” (algebra) “quantity” (arithmetic) “uncertainty” (probability)

in a range of difficulty that goes from the need of simple mathematical operations to complex thinking.

Math scores scaled to have mean of 500 and standard deviation of 100 in the OECD students’ population.

Gender Gap in MathDensities Mathematics test scores

World level

0.00E+00

5.00E-04

1.00E-03

1.50E-03

2.00E-03

2.50E-03

3.00E-03

3.50E-03

4.00E-03

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850

score

Males

Females

Gender Gap in ReadingDensities Reading test scores

World level

0.00E+00

5.00E-04

1.00E-03

1.50E-03

2.00E-03

2.50E-03

3.00E-03

3.50E-03

4.00E-03

4.50E-03

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900

score

Males

Females

Focus

Focus so far within countriesAt this level a gender gap in math (almost)

in all countries But there are marked differences in the

size of these gaps across countries.

Why?They have been overlooked Explaining them is our focus

Gender Gap in Math by Country

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

Liech

tens

tein

Kore

a, R

epub

lic o

fM

acao

- Ch

inaG

reec

eSl

ovak

Rep

ublic

Italy

Luxe

mbo

urg

Switz

erlan

dDe

nmar

kBr

azil

Turk

eyCz

ech

Rep

ublic Ire

land

New

Zeala

ndPo

rtuga

lTu

nisia

Urug

uay

Cana

daM

exico

Russ

iaG

erm

any

Spain

Fran

ceJa

pan

Hung

ary

Aust

riaBe

lgium

Finla

ndUn

ited

King

dom

Swed

en USA

Norw

ayPo

land

Aust

ralia

Neth

erlan

dsHo

ng K

ong

- Chin

aIn

done

sia Latv

iaSe

rbia

and

Mon

tene

gro Th

ailan

dIc

eland

ITALY

Measures of Women Emancipation

1) Gender gap index from the Global Competitiveness Report (WEF, 2006):

2) World Value Survey: • percentage of people that "disagree" with assertions

like "When jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women".

3) Participation to the labor force (UNESCO)4) Female-to-male ratio of tertiary enrollment

(UNESCO)

Women emancipation index by Country

Women Emancipation Index

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41

Women emancipation index

Country

CGI

TURKEY

SWEDENITALY

Math Gender Gap and GGI

AUS

AUTBEL

BRA

CAN

CHE

CZEDEUDNK

ESP

FINFRA

GBR

GRC

HUN

IDN

IRL

ISL

ITAJPNKOR

LUX

LVAMEX

NLDNOR

NZL

POLPRTRUS

SVK

SWE

THA

TUN

TUR

URYUSA

-30

-20

-10

010

20

.6 .65 .7 .75 .8Women emancipaiton (GGI)

gender difference in math Fitted values

Math Gender Gap and Women Participation

AUS

AUTBEL

BRA

CAN

CHE

CZEDEU DNK

ESP

FINFRA

GBR

GRC

HKGHUN

IDN

IRL

ISL

ITA JPNKOR

LUX

LVAMEX

NLDNOR

NZL

POLPRTRUS

SVK

SWE

THA

TUN

TUR

URYUSA

YUG

-30

-20

-10

01

02

0

30 40 50 60 70female economic activity rate

gender difference in math Fitted values

It is not just economic development

We run the regression at the individual level

Insert country dummies (that control for all the possible institutional differences)

Insert the interaction between gender and GGI

The interaction is positive and statistically significant => effect robust to other institutional differences

Effect economic sizeable

Raising Turkey women emancipation to the level prevailing in Sweden would close the math gender gap!

Interestingly, increased women emancipation not only improves the math gap but also strengthens women advantage in reading Women’s performance improves across the board Men performance is no worse

What is unaffected is the within gender relative performance: Women do relatively better in reading than in math and men

vice versa, independently of society’s women emancipation

How does women emancipation affect scores ?

1) Economic channel: Higher payoff -> higher investment more hours in homework and classes more effort in each class

2) Psychological channel -> More self confidenceLess anxiety

How does women emancipation affect scores ?

3) Educational channel Teaching style DisciplineDifferent approach to subjects

4) Sociological channel Role modelPeer pressure

1) Economic channel

Does women emancipation increase:

1) Hours spent by women in math courses? NO

2) Hours spent by women in math homework? NO

3) Effort put by women in studying math(measured as the marginal effect of an extra

hour of class)? NO

2) Psychological channel

Does women emancipation increaseWomen intrinsic motivation? Women extrinsic motivation? Women self-confidence?

Or decreaseWomen level of anxiety?

Variables

Self assessments (To what extent do you agree with a bunch of statements) of Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Self confidence 1 (self concept) Self confidence 2 (self efficacy)Anxiety

Variables definitions:

Intrinsic motivation: 1. I enjoy reading about mathematics. (+)2. I look forward to my mathematics lessons. (+)3. I do mathematics because I enjoy it. (+)4. I am interested in the things I learn in mathematics. (+)

Extrinsic motivation: 1. Making an effort in mathematics is worth it because it will

help me in the work that I want to do later on. (+)2. Learning mathematics is worthwhile for me because it

will improve my career <prospects, chances>. (+)3. Mathematics is an important subject for me because I

need it for what I want to study later on. (+)4. I will learn many things in mathematics that will help me

get a job. (+)

Variable definitions:

• Self efficacy: • How confident do you feel about having to do the

following calculations? […]

Self-concept I am just not good at mathematics. I get good <marks> in mathematics. (+) I learn mathematics quickly. (+) I have always believed that mathematics is one of my best

subjects. (+) In my mathematics class, I understand even the most

difficult work. (+)

Variable definitions:

Anxiety I often worry that it will be difficult for me in

mathematics classes. (+) I get very tense when I have to do mathematics

homework. (+) I get very nervous doing mathematics problems. (+) I feel helpless when doing a mathematics problem.

(+) I worry that I will get poor <marks> in mathematics.

(+)

Female-Male Gap

Variable Female-Male GapIntrinsic motivation -0.21***Extrinsic motivation -0.28***

Self-concept -0.31***Self-efficacy -0.35***

Anxiety 0.26***

Results

Motivation and anxiety matter But no evidence that women emancipation

works through an increase in intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, an increase in self confidence, or a reduction in anxiety

In fact, where women are more emancipated they have lower relative self concept in math higher math anxiety

3) Educational channel

DisciplineCorrelation between women emancipation and

discipline? No correlation Different approaches to subjects (more

emphasis in math)Correlation between women emancipation and

importance of math? No correlation Differences in teaching style

Foster different learning environments? No correlation

4) Sociological channel

We compute the average math score of the other boys and the other girls in the same school.

We run a micro level regression of math scores on these variables (level and interacted with gender) for each country

Estimate reflects the importance in that country of the role model (or peer effect)

Pure differential peer effect and GGI

IRL

PRT

DNKFIN

USA

SWE

BRA

HUN

ISL

ESP

LVA

CAN

GRC

GBR

NZL

NLDPOL

BELJPN

CZEKOR

SVK

TUR

NOR

CHE

URY

DEU

RUSTHA

ITA

-.6

-.4

-.2

0.2

.4

.6 .65 .7 .75 .8Gender Gap Index 2006

Pure differential peer effect Fitted values

Results

Pure differential peer effect less important in countries with higher GGI

Consistent with the idea that role models are different in more emancipated countries

=> in countries with more women emancipation, women performance in math less (positively) affected by the performance of other girls and less (negatively) affected by that of other boys

Looking forward

Very recently Steven Levitt has looked at this issue again. He finds that Using US panel data, a gender gap emerges early

at school=> kids perform initially equal but a gap emerges as they grow older

Confirms our findings in a different dataset when he uses the same countries

But correlation with women emancipation disappears when Muslin countries are added!

Why?

Looking forward

In Muslin countries male and female go to same-sex schools

girls do not lag boys in countries with same-sex schooling, even if in the countries where women are much less emancipated

Not exposing them to men seems to be enough to avoid the effect of culture on gender gap in math

Conclusions

We identify a strong cultural factor in women test performance

Where women are treated more equally, they exhibit a stronger absolute advantage in reading and a weaker absolute disadvantage in math.

This positive effect does not work through: Standard economic incentives Psychological effects Different educational styles

Most plausible channel seems a role model effect