The underrepresentation of women in STEM: a field experiment on the role of non-cognitive factors

Abstract

The underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is a further obstacle to the pursuit of gender equality and economic sustainability in most countries. This thesis analyses the main trends in STEM from a gender perspective and investigates the role of non-cognitive factors in the phenomenon through a field experiment. The first chapter contains a literature review of gender gaps in education, labour market and their economic consequences. Students’ choices differ by gender and are reflected in STEM labour market supply. The second chapter focuses on experimental economics, particularly on a field experiment organized during the Italian Mathematical Olympiad, a competition for high school students. During the experiment, around 6000 students completed an online questionnaire which assessed several non-cognitive factors (i.e. self- esteem, risk and time preferences, self-efficacy, attitude to competition, implicit stereotypes, self-control). These elements have proved to be important drivers of educational and labour market outcomes and may partially explain the observed gender gap in STEM. The third chapter presents and interprets the data obtained from the questionnaires through statistics and econometrics tools, focusing on gender differences.