This paper documents the patterns and examines the factors contributing to a gender gap in educational achievements in early seventh grade of schooling using a recent and nationally representative panel of Australian children. Regression results indicate that females excel at non-numeracy subjects at later grades whereas males outperform females in numeracy in all grades, whether at the mean or along the distribution of the test score. Our results also reveal a widening gender test score gap in numeracy as students advance their schooling. Regression and decomposition results also highlight the importance of controlling for pre-school cognitive skills in examining the gender test score gap.
The evolution of the gender test score gap through seventh grade: new insights from Australia using unconditional quantile regression and decomposition
JournalIZA Journal of Labour Economics
AuthorsHuong Thu Le, Ha Nguyen
PublishedFebruary 2018
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.