About

According to the last international assessments, Italy is one of the countries with the highest gender gap in math (GGM) which is increasing with age and is largest at high percentiles of the ability distribution.

The presence of a substantial females’ disadvantage in math is of particular importance, because it is likely to be a cause of the critically low share of women choosing STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines at university, of gender segregation in the labor market, and gender pay gaps.

Within the project, we design and evaluate an innovative teaching practice that aims to narrow the Gender Gap in Mathematics (GGM) in primary school in Italy. The teaching practice consists of 15 hours of math laboratories, which focus on active learning practices, peer interaction, sharing of ideas, students’ engagement, problem solving, and problem posing. The causal effect is evaluated using a randomized controlled trial, conducted in the province of Torino, involving 50 third grade classes in 25 schools, and 1044 students. The treatment significantly improves math performance for girls (0.15 s.d.), with no impact on boys, contributing to reduce the gender gap in math by 39.5-46.2%. The results indicate that properly designed innovative practices have the potential to reduce the gender gap in math and call for further research on the role of teaching practices on math learning.

Project website

https://sites.google.com/view/mathgendergap/