Studying Advanced Mathematics: The Potential Boost to Women’s Career Prospects

From Microeconomic Insights:

Studying advanced mathematics: the potential boost to women’s career prospects: The university gender gap has been reversed in many countries in recent years, with greater participation among young women than among young men. Yet women remain underrepresented in high-powered and highly paid careers as chief executives and, more generally, in finance and business, and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Our research assesses three potential explanations for this inequality:

• First, are the labour market rewards for advanced mathematical skills lower for women than for men?
• Second, are women less talented than men in terms of mathematical abilities?
• Third, does the way we promote and teach mathematics in schools drive away talented young women?

The answers to these questions are: no, no, and yes! In particular, we show that restrictive course bundling in high school constitutes a barrier for the mathematical talents of young women. ...