PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Glenn Ellison
AU  - Ashley Swanson
TI  - Dynamics of the Gender Gap in High Math Achievement
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.58.5.0620-10972R1
DP  - 2021 Jul 12
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0620-10972R1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/07/03/jhr.58.5.0620-10972R1.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/07/03/jhr.58.5.0620-10972R1.full
AB  - We examine dynamics in the gender gap in high school mathematics achievement using competition data. A clear gender gap is present by 9th grade, and the gap widens over time. Gender-related differences in dropout rates and in the mean and variance of year-to-year improvement contribute to the widening of the gender gap. The most important difference is that fewer girls make large enough gains to improve their rankings. We also document a discouragement effect: among students falling just short of qualifying for a prestigious second-stage exam, some drop out of future years, and this reaction may be stronger among girls.