MITIGATING THE GENDER GAP IN THE WILLINGNESS TO COMPETE: EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED FIELD EXPERIMENT

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Alan, Sule; Ertac, Seda
• 署名单位: University of Essex; Ihsan Dogramaci Bilkent University; Koc University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1093/jeea/jvy036
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1147-1185
• 关键词: Risk-taking; performance; competitiveness; feedback; grit; matrilineal; PSYCHOLOGY; girls; women

摘要

We evaluate the impact on competitiveness of a randomized educational intervention that aims to foster grit, a skill that is highly predictive of achievement. The intervention is implemented in elementary schools, and we measure its impact using a dynamic competition task with interim performance feedback. We find that when children are exposed to a worldview that emphasizes the role of effort in achievement and encourages perseverance, the gender gap in the willingness to compete disappears. We show that the elimination of this gap implies significant efficiency gains. We also provide suggestive evidence on a plausible causal mechanism that runs through the positive impact of enhanced grit on girls' optimism about their future performance.