Gender Differences in Economic Knowledge: An Extension of the Analysis

Gender, Expectations, and Grades in Introductory Microeconomics at a US University

“…In contrast, Williams, Waldauer, and Duggal (1992) find no significant gender differences in US student performance in upper-level economics classes. Thus, it appears that women who take additional economics courses beyond the introductory level are self-selected to succeed; once there, they do just as well as their male counterparts.…”

“…Yet, these women do not seem much more likely than their predecessors to pursue A RT I C L E S majors in some traditionally male-dominated fields such as economics (Marianne Ferber 1995;John Siegfried 1995;Karen Dynan and Cecilia Rouse 1997). A substantial amount of research has addressed the perception that women do more poorly than men in economics courses (Siegfried 1979;John Soper and William Walstad 1988;Julia Heath 1989;Mary Williams, Charles Waldauer, and Vijaya Duggal 1992). A wide variety of explanations have been given as to why women do less well in economics courses, based on the course format or the pedagogical approach of the professor.…”

“…Women's choices about whether to major in economics may be linked to their experiences in introductory economics courses. Many studies have demonstrated that women do less well than men in introductory economics courses in the US (Siegfried 1979;Lumsden and Scott 1987;Williams, Waldauer, and Duggal 1992;Gordon Anderson, Dwayne Benjamin, and Melvyn Fuss 1994;Robb and Robb 1999; Charles Ballard and Marianne Johnson 2004). 3 This early discouragement, in turn, makes it less likely that women will choose economics as a major (Dynan and Rouse 1997;Elizabeth Jensen and Ann Owen 2001).…”

Exploring the Gender Gap on the GRE Subject Test in Economics

“…Evidently, these men-women differentials are reduced (Ferber, Birnbaum, and Green 1983) or even reversed (Lumsden and Scott 1987) when essay questions are used instead. The study by Williams, Waldauer, and Duggal ( 1992) extends the research to include intermediate theory and economic statistics courses, and includes essay questions. According to the authors, this provides better information on "the issue of whether observed differences in performance on economic exams are the result of greater male skills in quantitative and spatial relationships compared with greater female skills in verbal relationships" (p. 220).…”

Study design's influence on empirical findings in economic education

“…Since Siegfried's (1979) seminal piece, there have been a myriad of studies examining the gap (Ferber et al, 1983;Williams et al, 1992;Dynan and Rouse, 1997). Yet, an investigation of this literature indicates that the gender gap is neither as pervasive nor as significant as generally represented; further much of the finding of a gap can be attributed to study design.…”