Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250572 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14911
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We investigate the gender gap in Economics among bachelor's and master's graduates in Italy between 2010 and 2019. First we establish that being female exerts a negative impact on the choice to major in Economics: at the bachelor level, only 73 women graduate in Economics for every 100 men, with the mathematical content of high school curricula as the key driver of the effect and a persistence of the gap at the master level. Second, within a full menu of major choices, Economics displays the largest gap, followed by STEM and then Business Economics. Third, decomposition analyses expose a unique role for the math background in driving the Economics gender gap relative to other fields. Fourth, a triple difference analysis of a high school reform shows that an increase in the math content of traditionally low math curricula caused an increase in the Economics gender gap among treated students.
Subjects: 
education gender gap
economics
higher education
business economics
major choice
major switching
mathematics
stereotypes
JEL: 
A22
I23
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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