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

Glenn Ellison, Ashley Swanson
2010 Journal of Economic Perspectives  
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
more » ... ed 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.
doi:10.1257/jep.24.2.109 fatcat:kbbk3pto6bcllehq2tubh7uz6q