Gender and Student Achievement in English Schools

The widening gap between the average educational achievementof boys and girls has been the subject of much discussion. Thisgap is especially controversial for students taking nationalexams at the end of their compulsory education. However, thegender gap is also apparent at earlier and at later stages ofeducation. In this paper, we analyse changes over time in thegender achievement gap at the different stages of compulsoryeducation in English schools. We first use a combination ofdata sources to paint a picture of how gender gaps have evolvedover time and in what context they are most marked. Then weconsider possible explanations for the observed gender gaps.We look at the relevance of school inputs, teaching practice,and the examination system for explaining the gender gap. Wealso discuss the potential influence of wider social and economicchanges as reflected, for example, in the much higher educationlevels of mothers relative to those of previous generations.Analysis of this issue is important in the context of researchon the gender wage gap. However, it is also raises policy-relevantissues in relation to whether changes in the school system caneffect a change in the gender gap in educational achievement. Footnotes ¹ E-mail addresses: s.machin{at}ucl.ac.uk, s.mcnally1{at}lse.ac.uk     

Flying Ducks? Girls’ Schooling in Rural Vietnam

Using the Vietnam Living Standards Survey 1992–93, this paper has found significant gender differences in children's education – parents are less likely to keep girls in school. The method of Doiron and Riddell (1994) is applied to decompose the predicted probability gap of being in school between boys and girls. Their method takes into account the nonlinear nature of the probit model. The decomposition result suggests that most observed gender differences in the predicted probability gap may be driven by discrimination, which may be due to Confucian values. Girls are colloquially referred to as 'flying ducks' as they are regarded as a loss to the family upon marriage. Cultural values could shape the parents' perception of the rate of the children's income transfer to the parents. If the cultural norms dictate that sons provide old–age security to the parents, while daughters marry and provide no support to the parents, parents may not be willing to invest as much in girls' education relative to boys. Promotion of gender equality and reduction of the reliance on sons in providing old–age security to parents are necessary to ensure that girls have equal opportunities to receive education.
JEL classification : I 2; J 16; J 71     

Unexpected opportunity for girls: Earthquake,disaster relief and female education in China's poor counties

The Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 devastated poverty-stricken areas in Sichuan Province, China. This paper examines the long-term effect of a disastrous earthquake on children's educational attainment using China's 2015 Population Census. Our cohort difference-in-differences results show that exposure to an earthquake has an unexpected significant positive impact on girls’ educational attainment in poor counties, but not on boys. We suggest that this surprising educational gain may be attributable to the reconstruction of schools and the reduction in school fees after disaster. In the long run, girls in poor affected counties are more likely to delay marriage, postpone childbearing and become self-employed compared with girls in poor unaffected counties. These findings potentially exhibit the unintended benefits in education from post-disaster interventions in poor areas.     

Computer technology in education: Evidence from a pooled study of computer assisted learning programs among rural students in China

There is a great degree of heterogeneity among the studies that investigate whether computer technologies improve education and how students benefit from them – if at all. The overall goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of computing technologies to raise educational performance and non-cognitive outcomes and identify what program components are most effective in doing so. To achieve this aim we pool the data sets of five separate studies about computer technology programs that include observations of 16,856 students from 171 primary schools across three provinces in China. We find that overall computing technologies have positive and significant impacts on student academic achievement in both math and in Chinese. The programs are found to be more effective if they are implemented out-of-school, avoiding what appear to be substitution effects when programs are run during school. The programs also have heterogeneous effects by gender. Specifically, boys gain more than girls in Chinese. We did not find heterogeneous effects by student initial achievement levels. We also found that the programs that help students learn math—but not Chinese—have positive impacts on student self-efficacy.     

Poor Eyesight and Educational Outcomes in Ethiopia

This paper is one of the few papers to investigate the relationship between poor eyesight and educational outcomes. Using data from rural Ethiopia that collected data on visual acuity, results show that girls with poor eyesight have an increased probability of dropping out of school. Girls that suffer from poor eyesight have an 8 percentage points higher probability of dropping out of school. No such relationship for boys is found. Results also show that, for both boys and girls, learning achievement is negatively related with poor eyesight. The paper sheds light on the potential benefits to educational outcomes of providing eyeglasses to visually impaired children.     

Educational Investment for Future Marriage? Evidence of Missing Girls from China

Numerous studies have shown that a sex ratio imbalance (more boys than girls in a society) may result in a sequence of social problems. This study investigated the expected effect of a high sex ratio on educational investment. Using nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies and the 2010 Census, we determined the following: (i) a high sex ratio increased educational expenditure for boys relative to girls; (ii) parents who took education seriously and who cared about their children's education were more likely to invest in education to appear attractive in the future marriage market, and (iii) the profound impact of a high sex ratio on educational expenditure was more pronounced in less educated and poorer families. Our findings raised the possibility that the effect of the sex ratio may bring about more gender inequality in the future. The implicit cost of a high sex ratio may further lead to a vicious cycle of family fertility and childbearing.     

Flying Ducks? Girls’ Schooling in Rural Vietnam: A Revisit

In Vietnam, girls are colloquially referred to as 'flying ducks' as they are regarded as a loss to the family upon marriage. Using the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys of 1992–1993 and 1997–1998, the method of Doiron and Riddell (1994) is applied to decompose the probability gap of being in school to explore gender differences in children's education and changes over time. The unexplained component is found to account for most of the observed gender probability gap in each period. Over time, however, the gap has narrowed. The explained component (namely, household income and children's involvement in housework or work activities) contributes to the narrowing gap. Cutting the indirect cost of education for girls (forgone contribution in work and housework) is crucial in ensuring girls have the same education opportunities as boys do.     

Gender peer effects on students’ educational and occupational expectations

To date, little is known about how gender peers affect students’ educational and occupational expectations. This study investigates the gender peer effects on students’ educational and occupational expectations, using the 2014 China Education Panel Survey. To address students’ self-selection into classes, we choose a sample of schools that randomly assign students to classes. We find that exposure to more female peers increases students’ probability of expecting to attend university and reduces their probability of expecting to complete only middle school. Besides, exposure to more female peers increases boys’ and girls’ probabilities of expecting to pursue a career as a manager, and reduces their probabilities of expecting to become a teacher, doctor, or lawyer. Moreover, exposure to more female peers has significant positive effects on both girls’ and boys’ probability of expecting to pursue prevalently male occupations. In addition, we discuss the mechanisms and check the robustness of the results. This study helps to understand the gender peer effects in education and the variations in individuals’ educational and occupational choices.     

School Enrollment and Graduation Rates in Western China Based on the 2000 Census

This paper examines the 2000 Chinese Census data for educational enrollment and graduation of Western Chinese youth aged 10–18. Analysis is done on a regional, provincial, and individual level and comparisons are offered between Western and Eastern China. Comparisons are also made with the 1990 Census in order to explore changes over the decade of the 1990s. We find a substantial improvement in educational attainment rates for all groups and at all levels over the decade. School initiations are very high in every province. The aggregate gender gap has also narrowed significantly over this period. Individual level analysis shows that boys are still more likely to start school, graduate from primary school and start middle school. There is no significant gender gap when it comes to finishing middle school or starting high school.     

Ambition, discrimination, and occupational attainment: a study of a British cohort

Examining British cohort data we find significant differencesin the occupational aspirations of boys and girls at age 16that appear to follow a traditional pattern. To isolate theeffect of gender hiring bias on occupational attainment a conditionalhiring model is estimated. This separates the occupational preferencesof workers to join a pool of job applicants from the hiringdecision of employers. Conditional on occupational preferences,we find, in general, no evidence of hiring bias against womenexcept in manual/craft occupations. Failure to control for differencesin career aspirations, in this study, produces an overestimateof the extent of occupational sex discrimination of around 60%.     

For Colored Girls? Factors that Influence Teacher Recommendations into Advanced Courses for Black Girls

Given the lack of attention to Black girls’ participation in STEM related courses, it remains unclear why this group participates at lower rates in STEM courses later in their academic careers (Hyde et al. 2008; Tocci and Engelhard 1991; Catsambis 1994). The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which teachers influence Black girls’ opportunities along the math pipeline. The aim is to determine the role of Black girls’ cognitive and non-cognitive behaviors on teachers’ decisions to place them in advanced courses. Using nationally representative survey data, the findings indicate that Black girls’ confidence in their ability to master skills taught math reduced the odds teacher recommendations to advanced courses. Additionally, teachers’ expectations of the educational attainment of Black girls were related to the recommendation process. Overall, the findings suggest that subjective beliefs held by students and teachers critically influence Black girls’ persistence along the math pipeline.     

Gender-responsive budgeting: The case for Botswana

Various conferences on women's rights have identified a relationship between gender, power, decision-making and resource allocation. Considering it is a given that pockets of gender inequality in many developing countries, including Botswana, the women will always be disadvantaged in resource allocation. The disadvantage manifests itself in many fronts, particularly feminised poverty and HIV infection. Since the effects of the global financial crisis are not gender-neutral, women and girls, as vulnerable groups, must be protected by gender-responsive budgeting. This paper argues that while Botswana has chalked up some successes in gender equality initiatives, sufficiently instanced by the ratification of gender conventions, public budgeting largely lacks gender responsiveness. Since literature advocating for gender-responsive budgeting in Botswana is lacking, this paper attempts to fill the gap and encourage debate. Finally, it argues that such budgeting will ensure equality in resource allocation and also empower women.     

Youth Education and Work in Mexico

A holistic approach to schooling in developing countries—considering schooling in conjunction with labor force work, child care, and other household responsibilities—is necessary to construct policies that will encourage greater educational attainment, especially for children and youth in poor families. Using data from the Encuesta Nacional de Empleo Urbano (ENEU), we jointly estimate the determinants of studying and working, doing both, or doing neither for 12- to 17 year-olds in urban Mexico. We consider the implications of defining work to include both labor force employment and household domestic work, in contrast to the traditional definition of market-based employment. Results based on the traditional definition indicate that girls are 13.8 percentage points more likely than boys to specialize in school, while those based on the more inclusive measure of work indicate that girls are 7.7 percentage points less likely than boys to specialize in school.     

India's missing girls: biology, customs, and economic development

We review the evidence on the sex ratio among children belowthe age of six. International evidence shows that the sex ratioat birth is slightly biased towards boys, but boys suffer greatermortality, a pattern consistent with Darwinian evolution. Witheconomic development, the male bias in the child sex ratio increases.South and East India show levels and trends in the child sexratio that are consistent with this evidence. However, unbalancedsex ratios in the northern and western states since the firstcensuses indicate discrimination against girls. Technologicaldevelopments permitting sex-selective abortions have seriouslyaggravated the imbalances in these states. Economic modellingof parental choice regarding a child's gender suggests thatgender imbalances may be consistent with individual maximizationand marriage-market equilibrium. Nevertheless, these choiceshave adverse welfare consequences, which will be aggravatedby the decline in population growth and consequent relaxationof the ‘marriage squeeze’.     

生育政策、子女数量与中国的性别教育平等

近年来,中国性别教育差距快速缩小并呈现出女性高等教育在校生比重超越男性的现象,文章从生育政策视角对这一现象进行了解释,认为计划生育政策通过改善女性教育获得显著促进了性别教育平等。队列分析显示,生育政策之后的出生队列中女性相对教育水平明显提高,性别教育差距明显缩小。基于生育政策地区差异和出生队列差异构建的双差分模型分析发现,以农村二孩政策地区为参照组,严格的独生子女政策在提高女性相对受教育机会方面更为明显。但相对于二孩政策,一孩半政策在促进性别教育平等方面不存在显著差异,这可能由于在一孩半政策下独女户和双女户数量较少,家庭受性别偏好影响会将资源向男性倾斜,导致政策没有通过控制家庭规模提高女性相对教育获得机会。研究认为,随着中国放松生育政策,农村地区由一孩半政策过渡到二孩政策并不会对女性教育获得产生明显影响,应该关注生育政策调整对严格独生子女政策地区女性教育获得的影响。同时,随着性别教育差距逐步缩小,可以利用劳动力市场政策降低市场性别歧视,进一步提高女性地位并促进性别平等。     

Culture,fertility and the socioeconomic status of women

This paper aims to study the effect of culture on economic outcomes by focusing on one unique fertility norm in China: the belief of continuing the family line. Using the national representative household survey data, we successively examine the fertility behavior and socioeconomic status of women in regions of China with varying beliefs regarding continuing the family line. We show that this local fertility norm has positive and significant effects on the fertility behavior, including the number of births; sex selection biased towards boys; and the education, employment status, and income of women. We also show that the gender gaps in education, labor supply, and income are significantly larger in regions where the belief of continuing the family line is stronger. Our results are robust to the control for reverse causality issue by measuring the local fertility norm using the beliefs of the older generation.     

Determinants of Indonesian rural secondary school enrolment: gender,neighbourhood and school characteristics

In recent years the school enrolment rates of children aged 13–15 and 16–18 years have increased sharply in Indonesia, not only in urban but also in rural areas. Using various data sets spanning the years from 1993 to 2007, this paper investigates changes in factors associated with the enrolment of secondary school aged children in rural areas. It sheds light on the roles of gender and of neighbourhood and school characteristics, which have rarely been examined in the Indonesian context. The study finds that the disappearance of a gender gap in secondary enrolments between 1993 and 2007 contributed significantly to the rise in the overall enrolment rate. The findings also show that children living in wealthier communities and communities with a high proportion of enrolled children are more likely to attend school. Finally, various school characteristics are shown not to be strongly or consistently correlated with school enrolment.     

Gender earnings gap among the youth in Malawi

While young women's engagement in economic activities is an essential component of development, gender gaps are still commonly observed worldwide and especially in developing countries like Malawi. This study introduces recent data to provide new evidence for a sub‐Saharan country that has yet been closely examined. Using the International Labour Organization's School‐to‐Work Transition Survey (ILO SWTS) individual‐level data, I examine the gender earnings gap among the youth in Malawi by conducting Mincer earnings regressions with Heckman selection correction and applying Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition methods. I find that young women in Malawi earn significantly less than young men and that women are significantly less likely to engage in income‐generating work activities. Also, substantial unadjusted gender earnings difference in Malawi is overwhelmingly due to differences in returns. Moreover, detailed decomposition results show that gender differences in work‐related individual characteristics and firm characteristics also contribute to the gender earnings gap. The results suggest that any effort to reduce the gender earnings gap should involve improved access to education as well as better workplaces for women.     

Children’s Work in Nigeria: Exploring the Implications of Gender, Urban–Rural Residence, and Household Socioeconomic Status

Child labor in developing countries continues to be a topic of policy and academic concern, particularly in Africa where there are more working children than in any other region. Scholarly attention has been drawn in part to gender, place of residence, and socioeconomic status as factors that shape the type of work that children perform and whether it impacts educational attainment. I explore these issues in the context of Nigeria through analysis of data from the 2004 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey EdData Survey. A series of logistic regression models of child labor confirm the existence of gender and, especially, socioeconomic disparities in children??s work. The data also indicate that girls and rural children face a double risk of working if they belong to poor households. A policy implication is that poverty alleviation programs??such as Mexico??s Oportunidades program (the erstwhile PROGRESA)??may help to reduce those forms of child labor that interfere with schooling. That this program has been found to more beneficial for girls suggests it may be particularly appropriate for Nigeria where gender disparities persist.     

Parental Education and child Nutrition in Indonesia

This study uses 1989 Susenas household data to examine the impact of parental education on pre-school children's nutritional status, as measured by weight-for-age Z-scores. Reduced form regressions are estimated separately for boys and girls in rural and urban areas; explanatory variables include mother's and household head's education; per capita household expenditure; and aspects of the household sanitary environment. The analysis controls for influence of unobserved heterogeneity at village level, e.g. differences in prices and medical service provision. The estimates show a significant effect of parental schooling on child health status, varying between urban and rural areas, and by child gender and age. Mothers with secondary education typically have healthier boys than those with less schooling, while this effect is seen for girls only if the mother has more than secondary education. Maternal schooling significantly affects 2–5 year olds' health, but has little direct effect on that of younger children.