Nevertheless She Persisted? Gender Peer Effects in Doctoral STEM Programs

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bostwick, Valerie K.; Weinberg, Bruce A.
• 署名单位: Kansas State University; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/714921
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 397-436
• 关键词: women helping women; students; success; science; grades; time

摘要

We study the effects of peer gender composition in STEM doctoral programs on persistence and degree completion. Leveraging unique new data and quasi-random variation in gender composition across cohorts within programs, we show that women entering cohorts with no female peers are 11.7 percentage points less likely to graduate within 6 years than their male counterparts. A 1 standard deviation increase in the percentage of female students differentially increases women's probability of on-time graduation by 4.4 percentage points. These gender peer effects function primarily through changes in the probability of dropping out in a PhD program's first year.