Girls Surrounded by Female Classmates Achieve Greater Career and Financial Success

Girls who study in classrooms with higher numbers of girls than boys during early childhood education are more likely to gain greater financial and professional success later in life, according to new research from Durham University Business School.

Undertaken by Dr Demid Getik, alongside Dr Armando Meier at the University of Basel, the study explores how the gender composition of primary school classes can impact labour market inequality; specifically focusing on the long-term career outcomes for women and, consequently, the impact on the gender pay gap.

“Whilst women routinely achieve a higher level of educational attainment in developed countries, a significant gender wage gap persists, with over 70% unexplained by traditional factors like education,” says Dr Getik.

“Our study focuses on this disconnect between academic achievement and career success, investigating whether early gender socialisation - specifically exposure to more female peers during critical ages of six to 16 - might help to explain and redress this gap.”

The researchers analysed Swedish Register data of more than 700,000 students attending primary school in Sweden between 1989 and 2002, and matched these to those same students’ earnings when they reached 30 years of age.

The study drew links between the number of female peers in a student’s primary school cohort to their grades through further education and choice of college subjects, as well as their occupations and earnings after graduation.

The data revealed that girls who were part of a predominantly female class during school earned more, on average, leading to a reduction in the gender pay gap.

For example, changing from a 45 percent female to a 55 percent female cohort led to a $354 increase (based on exchange rates at the time of the study) in the annual earnings of women by the age of 30, equivalent to a 2.7 percent reduction in the gender wage gap.

Looking long-term, the researchers predicted that lifetime earnings could be as much as $12,390 higher for women exposed to a 10 female hike in their school classrooms.

The researchers also examined the impact that female-dominated education environments had on career choices later in life.

They found that women exposed to more girls during their time at primary school more commonly chose to pursue occupations with higher earning potential. A 55 percent female-dominated class led to $7,949 higher predicted occupational lifetime earnings when compared to a 45 percent female class, reducing the occupational gender earnings gap by 3.2 percent.

A key reason for this, the researchers state, is that girls in female-dominated learning environments were not only more likely to go on to high school, but also to choose typically boy-dominated school subjects to study. From there, women were more likely to choose occupations commonly dominated by men. This naturally leads to higher earnings.

In contrast, whilst not evidenced to the same degree, a small reduction in boys’ primary school grades when surrounded by a predominantly female class was identified in the data.

The researchers state that their work offers important lessons for industry and wider society when it comes to redressing gender bias in the workplace and eradicating the pay gap that can unfairly penalise women.

But balance is advised to ensure that boys’ development is not hindered as a consequence. Whilst girls – then women – were found to benefit from greater female support and visibility, boys – then men – can be affected negatively when women dominate.

The study has been published in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.

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