Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
Self-Reported Grades of High School Seniors by Gender
Notes: In top panel, self-reported grades in nine categories (D, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A) are translated into the numbers 1, 1.7, 2, 2.3, 2.7, 3, 3.3, 3.7, and 4 following standard institutional practice.
- Figure 2
Educational Expectations of High School Students
- Figure 3
Male and Female Densities of Self-Reported Grades Among Twelfth Graders
Notes: Average grades are indicated by vertical line. Histogram that corresponds to actual data is overlaid with a kernel density.
- Figure 4
Male and Female Densities of Self-Reported Grades Among Eighth Graders
Notes: Average grades are indicated by vertical line. Histogram that corresponds to actual data is overlaid with a kernel density.
- Figure 5
Detailed Decomposition of Gender Differences in GPA Levels Among Twelfth Graders
Notes: Self-reported grades in nine categories (D, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A) are translated into the numbers 1, 1.7, 2, 2.3, 2.7, 3, 3.3, 3.7, and 4 following standard institutional practice. The female advantage represents the gender difference (female minus male) in the percentage of students at each GPA level. The lines in the figure show the raw gender differences; the different shaded bars indicate portions attributable to Composition or Educational Responses effects.
- Figure 6
Detailed Decomposition of Gender Differences in GPA Levels Among Eighth Graders
Notes: Self-reported grades in nine categories (D, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A) are translated into the numbers 1, 1.7, 2, 2.3, 2.7, 3, 3.3, 3.7, and 4 following standard institutional practice. The female advantage represents the gender difference (female minus male) in the percentage of students at each GPA level. The lines in the figure show the raw gender differences; the different shaded bars indicate portions attributable to Composition or Educational Responses effects.
Tables
Years 1976–88 1989–99 2000–2009 Kind of Work Respondent Thinks Will Be Doing at Age 30 Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Percentage in the labor forcea 99.9 93.2 99.7 97.7 99.6 98.3 Laborer, service worker, sales clerk 2.1 7.5 1.6 4.1 2.4 4.2 Skilled or semiskilled worker, Protective services (including military), farm owner 37.6 4.4 30.5 4.8 27.4 5.0 Clerical or office worker 1.7 21.0 1.2 9.0 0.9 2.7 Owner of small business, sales representative, manager or administrator 17.3 14.4 17.9 13.5 16.9 12.8 Professional without doctoral degreeb 27.9 37.4 32.1 42.2 36.1 48.3 Professional with doctoral degree (or equivalent)c 13.5 15.3 16.7 26.4 16.4 27.1 Total in the labor force 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Number of observations 18,369 19,343 11,667 12,560 9,242 10,396 Notes: Module 4 respondents were asked “What kind of work do you think that you will be doing when you are 30 years old? Mark the one that comes closest to what you expect to be doing.” Sixteen choices were possible including “Full-time homemaker” and “Don’t know” (6.7 percent of respondents). We regroup the 14 other choices into six categories for conciseness. More examples of specific jobs were given than reported.
↵aComputed as 100 minus the percentage of respondents choosing “Full-time homemaker or housewife.
↵bRegistered Nurse, Librarian, Engineer, Architect, Social Worker, Technician, Accountant, Actor, Artist, Musician given as examples.
↵cLawyer, Physician, Dentist, Scientist, College Professor given as examples.
- Table 2
Difference-and-Differences Estimates in Academic Performance and Plans for the Future - Twelfth Graders
Time Period 1976–88
(1)1989–99
(2)Change over Time (2) – (1)
(3)2000–2009
(4)Change over Time (4) – (2)
(5)Change over Time (4) – (1)
(6)A: Average grades Girls 3.004
(0.002)3.106
(0.002)0.102
(0.003)3.218
(0.003)0.112
(0.003)0.214
(0.003)Boys 2.804
(0.002)2.907
(0.002)0.103
(0.003)3.030
(0.003)0.123
(0.004)0.225
(0.003)Difference 0.200
(0.003)0.199
(0.003)−0.001
(0.004)0.189
(0.004)−0.010
(0.005)−0.011
(0.005)B: Proportion with A grade Girls 0.100
(0.001)0.143
(0.004)0.043
(0.001)0.192
(0.004)0.048
(0.002)0.091
(0.002)Boys 0.069
(0.001)0.099
(0.001)0.030
(0.001)0.137
(0.001)0.038
(0.002)0.068
(0.001)Difference 0.032
(0.002)0.044
(0.002)0.012
(0.002)0.054
(0.003)0.011
(0.003)0.023
(0.002)C: Proportion definitely will attend graduate or professional school3 Girls 0.101
(0.001)0.205
(0.001)0.104
(0.002)0.249
(0.002)0.044
(0.002)0.147
(0.002)Boys 0.099
(0.001)0.150
(0.001)0.051
(0.002)0.168
(0.001)0.018
(0.002)0.069
(0.002)Difference 0.003
(0.002)0.055
(0.002)0.053
(0.002)0.081
(0.003)0.026
(0.003)0.078
(0.002)Number of observations 207,152 160,403 118,173 Notes: Self-reported grades in nine categories (D, C−, C, C+, B−, B, B+, A−, A) are translated into the numbers 1, 1.7, 2, 2.3, 2.7, 3, 3.3, 3.7, and 4 following standard institutional practice.
a The numbers for other post-secondary choices are reported in Table 3.
Core Variables 1976–88 1989–99 2000–2009 Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Subjective school ability index 0.652 0.651 0.658 0.654 0.664 0.658 * Educational expectations: Index of likeliness to attenda Army 0.281 0.102 * 0.215 0.078 * 0.202 0.079 * Vocational 0.319 0.264 * 0.268 0.210 * 0.274 0.208 * Two-year college 0.338 0.364 * 0.362 0.370 * 0.383 0.386 Four-year college 0.584 0.585 0.702 0.758 * 0.737 0.816 * Graduate or professional 0.389 0.385 * 0.471 0.530 * 0.490 0.571 * Education aspirations: Want to attend dummy Army 0.203 0.092 * 0.177 0.079 * 0.179 0.078 * Vocational 0.284 0.219 * 0.207 0.141 * 0.203 0.124 * Two-year college 0.206 0.293 * 0.214 0.256 * 0.240 0.266 * Four-year college 0.635 0.650 * 0.744 0.810 * 0.773 0.850 * Graduate or professional 0.416 0.432 * 0.529 0.613 * 0.519 0.625 * High school program: Academic 0.487 0.514 * 0.550 0.611 * 0.518 0.589 * General 0.300 0.307 * 0.283 0.272 * 0.328 0.298 * Vocational 0.155 0.120 * 0.107 0.068 * 0.081 0.049 * Other 0.059 0.060 0.059 0.049 * 0.073 0.065 * Cigarette smoking: less than one-half pack 0.212 0.260 * 0.258 0.260 0.217 0.201 * Alcohol binging last two weeks: two to nine times 0.307 0.167 * 0.231 0.127 * 0.197 0.121 * Father not same household 0.169 0.185 * 0.201 0.228 * 0.207 0.244 * Mother working all the time 0.201 0.234 * 0.353 0.398 * 0.462 0.495 * Father: some high school 0.145 0.154 * 0.101 0.110 * 0.098 0.108 * Father: completed college 0.190 0.176 * 0.230 0.214 * 0.253 0.225 * Mother: some high school 0.126 0.149 * 0.082 0.101 * 0.071 0.082 * Mother: completed college 0.164 0.146 * 0.234 0.211 * 0.290 0.257 * Works over school year Number of observations 0.848 0.798 * 0.801 0.792 * 0.755 0.756 Works over school year Number of observations 74,230 79,942 60,469 66,875 50,549 57,202 Notes: Asterisk indicates statistically significant gender difference at the 5 percent level. Means of other variables and other categories are reported in Fortin, Oreopoulos, and Phipps (2013).
↵a The four categories of likeliness are: definitively won’t, probably won’t, probably will, definitively will.
Dependent variable: A (93–100 percent) × 100 Specification 1 Specification 2 Explanatory variables Boys Girls Boys Girls Subjective school ability 44.46 (53.8) 70.88 (72.7) Educational expectationsa Army −2.33 (4.5) −0.13 (−0.2) 0.31 (0.5) 2.34 (2.4) Vocational −3.95 (−7.2) −3.93 (−6.5) −3.52 (−5.6) −3.94 (−5.7) Two-year college −9.95 (−22.0) −11.41 (−24.5) −7.54 ( −14.5) −7.04 (−12.7) Four-year college 3.67 (6.1) 4.38 (6.4) 0.15 (0.2) 0.57 (0.8) Graduate or professional 13.71 (24.6) 10.40 (18.5) 8.66 (14.1) 4.10 (6.4) Education aspirationsb Army −2.51 (−5.1) −2.21 (−3.1) Vocational −0.14 (−0.3) 1.15 (1.9) Two-year college 0.24 (0.5) −0.20 (−0.4) Four-year college −1.74 (−4.0) −1.32 (−2.5) Graduate or professional 1.64 (4.3) 2.07 (5.0) High school program Academic 5.90 (9.4) 9.09 (13.0) 1.29 (2.1) 2.01 (3.0) General −1.43 (−2.3) −0.29 (−0.4) −2.83 (−4.7) −1.89 (−2.8) Vocational 2.47 (3.1) 4.78 (9.4) −0.25 (−0.3) 1.33 (1.4) Cigarette smoking: less than one-half pack −4.93 (−12.4) −7.79 (−17.7) −3.64 (−9.4) −6.11 (−14.5) Alcohol binging last two weeks: two to nine times −4.98 (−12.0) −5.25 (−9.8) −4.66 ( −11.6) −4.01 (−7.8) Father not same household −1.23 (−3.1) −2.32 (−5.7) −0.87 (−2.2) −1.89 (−4.9) Mother working: all the time −3.86 (−8.3) −4.76 (−9.5) −3.51 (−7.8) −3.84 (−8.0) Father: completed college 0.91 (2.0) 2.88 (6.0) 0.13 (0.3) 1.71 (3.7) Mother: completed college 1.42 (3.3) 2.94 (6.3) 0.66 (1.6) 1.45 (3.2) Works over school year −3.09 (−2.6) 0.32 (0.2) −2.21 (−1.9) 2.14 (1.5) Constant 25.24 (28.4) 28.76 (29.6) −1.31 (−1.3) −13.36 (−11.4) R-squared 0.12 0.13 0.17 0.20 Number of observations 49,328 56,156 49,328 56,156 Notes: Dependent variable is set to 100 if the student has a GPA of 4, and to 0 otherwise. T-statistics are in parentheses. The base group for Alcohol binging and Cigarette smoking is none, Mother working is not working, Father’s and Mother’s education is high school, for High school program is other. The coefficients of the other variables and categories included in the regression are reported in Fortin, Oreopoulos, and Phipps (2013).
↵a Index of educational expectations constructed from the four categories: definitively won’t, probably won’t, probably will, definitively will.
↵b Educational aspirations measured with binary variable: want to attend.
Dependent variable: C+ (77–79 percent) × 100 Specification 1 Specification 2 Explanatory variables Boys Girls Boys Girls Subjective school ability −20.70 (−28.2) −20.59 (−31.8) Educational expectationsa Army 2.33 (5.2) 0.47 (0.9) 2.30 (4.0) 0.13 (0.2) Vocational 0.37 (1.0) 0.88 (2.3) 0.13 (0.2) 0.17 (0.2) Two-year college 5.95 (15.2) 3.45 (11.6) 4.88 (10.6) 2.00 (5.4) Four-year college −5.34 (−10.2) −3.37 (−7.7) −4.02 (−6.9) −1.39 (−2.8) Graduate or professional −5.10 (−10.6) −3.12 (−8.6) −2.76 (−5.1) −1.61 (−3.8) Education aspirationsb Army −0.29 (−0.7) 0.29 (0.6) Vocational 0.24 (0.6) 0.73 (1.8) Two-year college −0.29 (−0.8) 0.49 (1.6) Four-year college 1.30 (3.4) −0.76 (−2.2) Graduate or professional −0.77 (−2.3) −0.15 (−0.5) High school program Academic −4.47 (−8.2) −5.98 (−13.4) −2.34 (−4.3) −3.90 (−8.7) General −0.18 (−0.3) −1.91 (−4.2) 0.45 (0.8) −1.42 (−3.2) Vocational −1.72 (−2.5) −1.51 (−2.4) −0.46 (−0.7) −0.64 (−1.0) Cigarette smoking: less than one-half pack 1.87 (5.4) 2.94 (10.4) 1.27 (3.7) 2.43 (8.7) Alcohol binging last 2 weeks: two to nine times 1.53 (4.3) 1.71 (5.0) 1.37 (3.4) 1.36 (4.0) Father not same household 1.04 (3.0) 1.73 (6.6) 0.87 (2.5) 1.59 (6.2) Mother working: all the time 1.54 (3.8) 1.51 (4.7) 1.38 (3.4) 1.27 (3.4) Father: some high school 0.83 (1.6) 2.12 (5.6) 0.62 (1.3) 1.88 (5.0) Mother: some high school 1.50 (2.6) 0.71 (1.7) 1.29 (2.3) 0.55 (1.3) Works over school year 1.00 (1.0) 2.28 (2.4) 0.60 (0.6) 1.71 (1.8) Constant 7.88 (10.2) 6.90 (11.1) 20.07 (21.5) 19.54 (25.1) R-squared 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.07 Number of observations 49,328 56,156 49,328 56,156 Notes: Dependent variable is set to 100 if the student has a GPA of 2.3, and to 0 otherwise. T-statistics are in parentheses. The base group for Alcohol binging and Cigarette smoking is none, Mother working is not working, Father’s and Mother’s education is high school, for High school program is other. The coefficients of the other variables and categories included in the regression are reported in Fortin, Oreopoulos, and Phipps (2013).
↵a Index of educational expectations constructed from the four categories: definitively won’t, probably won’t, probably will, definitively will.
↵b Educational aspirations measured with binary variable: want to attend.
- Table 5
Detailed Decomposition Results - Percentage Female/Male Difference for Selected GPA Levels
2000–2009 Twelfth Graders: Specification 1 Twelfth Graders: Specification 2 Eighth Graders A (93–100) C+ (77–79) A (93–100) C+ (77–79) A (93–100) C+ (77–79) Total differential 6.06 (0.007) −3.15 (0.005) 6.06 (0.007) −3.15 (0.005) 5.96 (0.007) −1.48 (0.005) Composition effects Total explained 2.40 (0.004) −1.22 (0.003) 1.03 (0.004) −0.59 (0.003) 2.21 (0.004) −0.86 (0.003) Own school ability −0.46 (0.002) 0.22(0.001) −0.63 (0.001) 0.10(0.001) Educational expectations 2.03 (0.003) −1.19(0.003) 1.21 (0.003) −0.81 (0.003) 1.53 (0.003) −0.53 (0.002) High school program 0.38 (0.001) −0.26 (0.001) 0.19(0.001) −0.16(0.001) 0.52 (0.001) −0.14(0.001) Smoking, binging 0.56 (0.001) −0.20 (0.001) 0.49(0.001) −0.16(0.001) 1.29(0.002) −0.54(0.002) Race, SMSA −0.29 (0.001) 0.25 (0.001) −0.23 (0.001) 0.22 (0.001) −0.16(0.001) 0.13 (0.000) Family background −0.35 (0.001) 0.19(0.001) −0.23 (0.001) 0.14 (0.001) −0.31 (0.001) 0.18(0.001) Work 0.06 (0.001) −0.03 (0.001) 0.08 (0.001) −0.04(0.001) −0.02 (0.001) −0.06 (0.001) Specification error −0.01 (0.008) 0.10(0.006) −0.05 (0.007) 0.11 (0.006) 0.19(0.007) −0.32 (0.006) Educational responses Total unexplained 3.59 (0.007) −1.93 (0.005) 4.80 (0.007) −2.49 (0.005) 3.07 (0.007) −0.09 (0.005) Own school ability −0.09 (0.001) 0.01 (0.000) −0.10(0.002) 0.14 (0.002) Educational expectations −0.12(0.002) 0.15(0.002) 1.08 (0.021) −1.33 (0.016) −0.21 (0.002) 0.10 (0.002) High school program 2.65 (0.028) −0.91 (0.020) 1.41 (0.027) −1.50 (0.020) 1.53 (0.008) −0.07 (0.006) Smoking, binging −0.47 (0.005) 0.34 (0.003) −0.33 (0.005) 0.32 (0.003) −0.04 (0.004) 0.35 (0.003) Race, SMSA −1.41 (0.013) −0.49 (0.009) −1.51 (0.013) −0.51 (0.009) −0.69 (0.013) −0.38 (0.009) Family background 1.59 (0.027) 0.31 (0.019) 1.09 (0.025) 0.71 (0.019) 1.54 (0.021) 0.73 (0.015) Work 1.59 (0.013) 0.30 (0.009) 1.62 (0.012) 0.09 (0.009) 0.46 (0.006) −0.04 (0.004) Constant −0.24 (0.043) −1.64 (0.030) 1.54 (0.045) −0.27 (0.034) 0.57 (0.021) −0.91 (0.020) Reweighting error 0.08 (0.003) −0.10(0.001) 0.28 (0.003) −0.19(0.001) 0.50 (0.003) −0.21 (0.001) Notes: Standard errors are in parentheses. Reweighted decomposition follows methodology of Section IV. The A (93–100) and C+ (77–79) correspond to the GPA level 4 and 2.3, respectively, in the Figures. In Specification 2, educational aspirations are included among the variables in the Educational expectations category.
