Science Concepts Pre–Post Assessment (Williams et al., 2012)
Category: Student Learning
This paper studies how exposure to gendered peer math beliefs shapes girls' gender-math beliefs, their own math beliefs, and mathematics achievement. I exploit quasi-random variation in girls' exposure to peer math beliefs generated by random classroom assignment at entry into Chinese middle schools. Exposure to girls' and boys' peer math beliefs has opposite effects on gender-math beliefs: girls' peer math beliefs reduce the probability that girls believe boys are better than girls at mathematics, while boys' peer math beliefs increase it. These peer signals also affect later outcomes on different margins. Boys' peer math beliefs lower girls' subsequent math beliefs, whereas girls' peer math beliefs are more likely to translate into achievement gains. The effects are strongest among girls who enter middle school with low math beliefs or who already believe that boys are better at math; these girls benefit less from girls' peer math beliefs and respond more negatively to boys' peer math beliefs.
Keywords
gender, belief formation, human capital, behavioral economics
Education level
Topics
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/adgx-te51
