%0 Journal Article
%@ 1466-4291
%A Morando, G
%D 2021
%F discovery:10137788
%I Informa UK Limited
%J Applied Economics Letters
%K Female participation in STEM, peer effects, school curricular reform, degree choice
%N 12
%P 1041-1045
%T Peer gender and STEM specialization
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10137788/
%V 28
%X This paper shows that students are less likely to specialize in mathematics when exposed to a high share of male peers. I exploit a curricular reform that incentivized students to obtain a mathematics qualification post-16. I show that, for those students affected by the reform, the higher the share of same-gender classmates, the higher the likelihood of obtaining a mathematics qualification for boys, and the lower the likelihood for girls. I interpret this as suggestive evidence that one’s perceived ability in mathematics, a boy-dominated subject, decreases when the share of male classmates increases. This further affects STEM participation in higher education.
%Z This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.