The importance of external assessments: High school math and gender gaps in STEM degrees
Simon Burgess, Daniel Sloth Hauberg, Beatrice Schindler Rangvid, Hans Henrik Sievertsen
Abstract
We exploit the random allocation to a semi-external assessment in Math (SEAM) at the end of high school in Denmark to test the effect of SEAM on subsequent enrollment and graduation in post-secondary education. We find that SEAM in high school reduces the gender gap in graduation from post-secondary STEM degrees, and we discuss possible mechanisms. Our results show that cancelling external assessments, as was temporarily implemented in many regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, may impact gender differences in human capital accumulation in the long run.
Topics & Concepts
Graduation (instrument)Human capitalGender gapTest (biology)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Demographic economicsMathematics educationPandemicExploitMedical educationMathematicsEconomic growthEconomicsComputer scienceMedicineComputer securityGeometryInfectious disease (medical specialty)BiologyDiseasePaleontologyPathologyAdvanced Causal Inference TechniquesIntergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesSchool Choice and Performance