Gender gap in performance under competitive pressure: admissions to Czech universities

0362796 - NHÚ 2012 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Jurajda, Štěpán - Münich, Daniel
Gender gap in performance under competitive pressure: admissions to Czech universities.
American Economic Review. Roč. 101, č. 3 (2011), s. 514-518. ISSN 0002-8282. E-ISSN 1944-7981
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC542
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70850503
Keywords : gender gap in performance * competition * universities & colleges
Subject RIV: AH - Economics
Impact factor: 2.693, year: 2011

Do women perform worse than equally able men in stressful competitive settings? We ask this question for competitions with a high payoff--admissions to tuition-free selective universities. With data on an entire cohort of Czech students graduating from secondary schools and applying to universities, we show that, compared to men of similar general skills and subject-of-study preferences, women perform similarly well when competition is less intense, but perform substantially worse (are less likely to be admitted) when applying to very selective universities.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0199007