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  5. The Gender Gap in Secondary School Mathematics at High Achievement Levels: Evidence from the American Mathematics Competitions

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

The Gender Gap in Secondary School Mathematics at High Achievement Levels: Evidence from the American Mathematics Competitions

  • Glenn Ellison
  • Ashley Swanson
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2010
(pp. 109–28)
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Abstract

This paper uses a new data source, American Mathematics Competitions, to examine the gender gap among high school students at very high achievement levels. The data bring out several new facts. There is a large gender gap that widens dramatically at percentiles above those that can be examined using standard data sources. An analysis of unobserved heterogeneity indicates that there is only moderate variation in the gender gap across schools. The highest achieving girls in the U.S. are concentrated in a very small set of elite schools, suggesting that almost all girls with the ability to reach high math achievement levels are not doing so.

Citation

Ellison, Glenn, and Ashley Swanson. 2010. "The Gender Gap in Secondary School Mathematics at High Achievement Levels: Evidence from the American Mathematics Competitions." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24 (2): 109–28. DOI: 10.1257/jep.24.2.109

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
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