Nudging gender desegregation: a field experiment on the causal effect of information barriers on gender inequalities in higher education

In this article, we propose and test a novel explanation for gender segregation in Higher Education that focuses on the misperceptions of economic returns to fields of study. We frame this explanation within the literature emphasizing the role of gender-stereotypical preferences and occupational plans, and we argue that counselling activities in school can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or countering the weight of these expressive mechanisms relative to more instrumental considerations involving occupational prospects of different fields. In particular, we suggest that the availability of reliable, ready-to-use information on these prospects enhances the probability that students, particularly females, opt for more rewarding fields. To test this argument, we present the results of a field experiment conducted in Italy that confronted high school seniors with detailed information concerning returns to tertiary education and field of study differentials, and we assess how girls and boys reacted to this counselling intervention

Gender, information barriers and fields of study choice: a field experiment

In this article we propose and test a novel explanation for the segregation of wom-en in less rewarding fields of study in tertiary education that focuses on the lack of knowledge of the profitability of different fields, a mechanism that has arguably received limited attention in previous research. We frame this explanation in the context of research that emphasizes the role of gender-stereotypical curricular preferences and occupational plans for gender differences across fields, and we argue that school counseling can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or counter-ing these mechanisms by providing students with transparent information about returns to educational investments. To test this hypothesis we carried out a field experiment which confronted a random sample of over 9000 Italian high school seniors with detailed information concerning the profitability of fields of study and the vocational alternatives to college. Contrary to the claim that girls are less ca-reer-oriented than boys, we found that the former were much more reactive to this information initiative. Indeed, this intervention substantially improved the occupa-tional prospects of the girls by reducing their overrepresentation in weak fields and by enhancing their participation in vocational HE as an alternative to leaving the educational system after high school graduation. These findings support the hy-pothesis that information barriers fuel gender inequality in educational choices and suggest that light-touch, cost-effective counseling interventions that provide all students with the same information can have significant gender-equalizing effects

Is university education worth the investment? The expectations of upper secondary school seniors and the role of family background

This study assesses students’ expectations about the profitability of the investment in university education. We consider Italy as a test case and provide fresh high-quality data on students’ expectations concerning the costs, economic returns and chances of success of this investment. These are compared with data on the corresponding actual values. We find that the estimates provided by upper secondary school seniors are highly inaccurate, highly uncertain and systematically biased. Students overestimate the returns to university degrees, while they are over-pessimistic regarding university costs and drop-out risks. These results confirm previous studies on perceived university costs, but they challenge the dominant view that students can realistically forecast graduate earnings. We trace this discrepancy to two methodological shortcomings of several previous studies on expected graduate earnings. Moreover, we find that information barriers are not equally distributed among social groups. High-status students overestimate the economic returns to university more, and they are more optimistic regarding their chances of success in Higher Education, even after allowing for their higher objective returns and chances of success. Our interpretation of the importance of information barriers focuses on the interaction between cognitive biases and institutional constraints

Nudging gender desegregation: a field experiment on the causal effect of information barriers on gender inequalities in higher education

In this article, we propose and test a novel explanation for gender segregation in Higher Education that focuses on the misperceptions of economic returns to fields of study. We frame this explanation within the literature emphasizing the role of gender-stereotypical preferences and occupational plans, and we argue that counselling activities in school can play a crucial role in either reinforcing or countering the weight of these expressive mechanisms relative to more instrumental considerations involving occupational prospects of different fields. In particular, we suggest that the availability of reliable, ready-to-use information on these prospects enhances the probability that students, particularly females, opt for more rewarding fields. To test this argument, we present the results of a field experiment conducted in Italy that confronted high school seniors with detailed information concerning returns to tertiary education and field of study differentials, and we assess how girls and boys reacted to this counselling intervention

Aspetti del funzionamento del sistema scolastico post-obbligo e dei processi di transizione dalla scuola al lavoro in provincia di Trento

Aspetti del funzionamento del sistema scolastico post-obbligo e dei processi di transizione dalla scuola al lavoro in provincia di Trent