eprintid: 10205224
rev_number: 9
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/52/24
datestamp: 2025-02-25 15:37:05
lastmod: 2025-02-25 15:37:05
status_changed: 2025-02-25 15:37:05
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Adamecz, Anna
creators_name: Jerrim, John
creators_name: Pingault, Jean-Baptiste
creators_name: Shure, Nikki
title: Peers, parents, and self-perceptions: the gender gap in mathematics self-assessment
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B16
divisions: B14
divisions: J81
keywords: Gender gaps · Self-assessed mathematics ability · Twins · Peer effects
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abstract: It is well established that boys perceive themselves to be better in mathematics than girls, even when their ability is the same. We examine the drivers of the gender gap in self-assessed mathematics ability using a longitudinal study of twins. Using measures of individual self-assessment in mathematics from childhood, along with mathematics levels and test scores, cognitive skills, parent and teacher mathematics assessments, and characteristics of their families and siblings, we examine potential channels of the gender gap. Our results confirm that objective mathematics abilities only explain a small share of the gender gap in self-assessed mathematics abilities, and the gap is even larger within boy-girl twin pairs. We find that the self-assessment of boys is positively correlated with the self-assessment of their male co-twins, not just in mathematics, but also in other abilities. However, this positive correlation is not observed between girls and their male co-twins; if anything, it is negative. This indicates that boys and girls have different reactions to highly confident male peers. We also find that parents are more likely to overestimate boys’ and underestimate girls’ mathematics abilities. Gender-biased parental assessments explain a large part of the gender gap in mathematics self-assessment, highlighting the potential of the intergenerational transmission of gender stereotypes.
date: 2025-03
date_type: published
publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-025-01087-2
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2364284
doi: 10.1007/s00148-025-01087-2
lyricists_name: Shure, Dominique
lyricists_id: SHURE67
actors_name: Shure, Dominique
actors_id: SHURE67
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Population Economics
volume: 38
number: 1
article_number: 33
citation:        Adamecz, Anna;    Jerrim, John;    Pingault, Jean-Baptiste;    Shure, Nikki;      (2025)    Peers, parents, and self-perceptions: the gender gap in mathematics self-assessment.                   Journal of Population Economics , 38  (1)    , Article 33.  10.1007/s00148-025-01087-2 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-025-01087-2>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205224/1/Shure_s00148-025-01087-2.pdf