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Author: Sapienza, Paola
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Dossi, Gaia
Figlio, David N.
Giuliano, Paola
Sapienza, Paola
Born in the Family: Preferences for Boys and the Gender Gap in Math
NBER Working Paper No. 25535, National Bureau of Economic Research, February 2019.
Also: https://www.nber.org/papers/w25535
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Gender Attitudes/Roles; Gender Differences; Mothers and Daughters; Parental Influences; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math)

We study the correlation between parental gender attitudes and the performance in mathematics of girls using two different approaches and data. First, we identify families with a preference for boys by using fertility stopping rules in a population of households whose children attend public schools in Florida. Girls growing up in a boy-biased family score 3 percentage points lower on math tests when compared to girls raised in other families. Second, we find similar strong effects when we study the correlations between girls' performance in mathematics and maternal gender role attitudes, using evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We conclude that socialization at home can explain a non-trivial part of the observed gender disparities in mathematics performance and document that maternal gender attitudes correlate with those of their children, supporting the hypothesis that preferences transmitted through the family impact children behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Dossi, Gaia, David N. Figlio, Paola Giuliano and Paola Sapienza. "Born in the Family: Preferences for Boys and the Gender Gap in Math." NBER Working Paper No. 25535, National Bureau of Economic Research, February 2019.
2. Dossi, Gaia
Figlio, David N.
Giuliano, Paola
Sapienza, Paola
Born in the Family: Preferences for Boys and the Gender Gap in Math
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 183 (March 2021): 175-188.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268120304716
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Gender Attitudes/Roles; Gender Differences; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers and Daughters; Parental Influences; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math)

We study the effect of preferences for boys on the performance in mathematics of girls, using evidence from two different data sources. In our first set of results, we identify families with a preference for boys by using fertility stopping rules in a large population of households whose children attend public schools in Florida. Girls growing up in a boy-biased family score on average 3 percentage points lower on math tests when compared to girls raised in other types of families. In our second set of results, we find similar effects when we study the correlations between girls' performance in mathematics and maternal gender role attitudes, using evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. We conclude that socialization at home can explain a non-trivial part of the observed gender disparities in mathematics performance and document that maternal gender attitudes correlate with those of their children, supporting the hypothesis that preferences transmitted through the family impact children behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Dossi, Gaia, David N. Figlio, Paola Giuliano and Paola Sapienza. "Born in the Family: Preferences for Boys and the Gender Gap in Math." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 183 (March 2021): 175-188.