Women have historically been underrepresented in STEM jobs. This paper uses administrative data from China to examine the extent to which the presence of high-performing peers in mathematics affects the likelihood that women choose a science track during high school. Results indicate that having a higher proportion of high-performing females increases STEM major choices by girls, while more high-performing males may decrease this likelihood. There is little evidence of peer effects for boys. Our results suggest that girls doing well in quantitative fields may have a role model or affirmation effect that encourages their female classmates to pursue a science track.

This paper studies the labor market returns to quality of higher education for low-skilled students. Using a regression discontinuity design, we compare students who marginally pass and marginally fail the French high school exit exam from the first attempt. Threshold crossing leads to an improvement in the quality, but has no effect on the quantity, of higher education pursued. Specifically, students who marginally pass are more likely to enroll in STEM majors and universities with better peers. Further, marginally passing increases earnings by 13.6 percent at the age of 27 to 29. Our findings show that low-skilled students experience large gains from having the opportunity to access higher quality postsecondary education.JEL Classification: H52, I21, I28, J24

for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank seminar participants at Columbia University and the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) meetings for helpful comments and discussions. All errors are our own. The data for the project are proprietary and were provided at no cost to the researchers by education bureau authorities from a large capital city of a densely populated province in China. They agreed to provide the data on condition that we not reveal the name of the province or city. No review is required prior to dissemination of the results. The research conducted in this paper is covered under Texas A&M University IRB # 2015-0208. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank seminar participants at Columbia University and the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) meetings for helpful comments and discussions. All errors are our own. The data for the project are proprietary and were provided at no cost to the researchers by education bureau authorities from a large capital city of a densely populated province in China. They agreed to provide the data on condition that we not reveal the name of the province or city. No review is required prior to dissemination of the results. The research conducted in this paper is covered under Texas A&M University IRB # 2015-0208. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

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