Gender Differences in Educational Attainment: The Case of University Students in England and Wales

Transcription

1 Gener Differences in Eucational Attainment: The Case of University Stuents in Englan an Wales ROBERT MCNABB 1, SARMISTHA PAL 1, AND PETER SLOANE 2 ABSTRACT This paper examines the eterminants of gener ifferences in eucational attainment using ata for all grauates from universities in Englan an Wales in We fin that although women stuents perform better on average than their male counterparts, controlling for a range of iniviual an institutional attributes, they are significantly less likely to obtain a first class egree. There is, however, no evience that this arises either because of ifferences in the types of subjects male an female stuents stuy in the institutions they atten. Nor is there evience that it reflects ifferences in personal attributes, such as acaemic ability. Rather it is ifferences in the way these factors affect acaemic achievement that give rise to gener ifferences in performance. In aition, although evience is foun of subjectspecific effects, there is no support for the iea that women uner-perform in male ominate subject areas. Key Wors: eucational attainment; gener; UK JEL classification: I2, J7 1 Economics Section Cariff Business School Aberconway Builing University of Cariff Cariff CF1 3EU 2 Department of Economics Abereen University Ewar Wright Builing

2 Abereen AB24 3QY 2

3 Gener Differences in Eucational Attainment: The Case of University Stuents in the Englan an Wales INTRODUCTION During the past 25 years there has been a sharp increase in the participation of women in higher eucation. In 1975, women accounte for aroun one-thir of university unergrauates in Englan an Wales, increasing to just uner 40% by By 1999, just less than one half of the university unergrauate population were women. However, whilst the tren in participation has been towars greater equality, gener ifferences in egree are still significant. Historically, the general pattern is one of greater variation in the istribution of results for men than for women, an in particular, a significantly higher proportion of men than women achieving first class egrees (Table 1). On average, aroun 50 per cent more men than women achieve first class egrees, though at some universities the ifference is much higher. Gener ifferences in egree performance may arise for a number of reasons (Hoskins et al., 1997; Ru, 1984). They may reflect ifferences in the types of subjects male an female stuents stuy or gener ifferences in iniviual-specific attributes that are correlate with attainment, such as family backgroun, age an marital status. They may arise because of ifferences in the types an quality of the institutions male an female stuents atten. Aitionally, gener ifferences in attainment coul be ue to psychological an/or biological factors (see, for example, Mellany et al 2000). Finally, they may be the result of gener stereotyping an prejuice by a male ominate profession an which are manifest, inter alia, in the way stuents are assesse. Braley (1984, 1993), for example, 3

4 reports evience of gener bias in the graing of stuents an suggests that some methos of assessment are more isavantageous than others for women. An unerstaning of the nature an eterminants of gener ifferences in egree performance is, of course, important in itself. The significance of gener ifferences in egree performance also lies in the fact it is important as part of the wie-ranging examination of the structure an performance of the university system in the UK that has taken place in recent years incluing, most recently, by the Dearing Committee of Inquiry. 1 Universities are now require to be more accountable in terms of the efficiency an effectiveness of the way in which they are manage an in the quality of the teaching they provie, incluing a commitment to equality of opportunity. Various inicators have been suggeste as a basis upon which the performance of universities can be monitore an interinstitutional comparisons mae, incluing measures of eucational attainment such as egree results an rop-out rates (Johnes an Taylor, 1990; Johnes, 1992). Gener ifferences in egree results are therefore an integral feature of the scrutiny to which universities are now subject. Gener ifferences in egree performance are also important because of the fact that eucational attainment has an impact on labour market outcomes. The view that there is a glass ceiling to women s career progression in managerial an professional labour markets in the UK has receive empirical support (Gregg an Machin, 1993; Jones an Makepeace, 1996; McNabb an Wass, 1997). Gener ifferences in labour market outcomes also reflect ifferences between men an women in the earnings-relate attributes they bring to the labour market, incluing ifferences in eucational achievement. Most stuies of male-female earnings ifferentials in professional an managerial labour markets 4

5 control for level of eucation but egree class or subject of egree are rarely, if ever, inclue. There is evience, however, that not only egree but also egree classification impacts on earnings. Thus, Battu, Belfiel an Sloane, (1999), report that a first class egree raises earnings by between 9 an 13 per cent six years after grauation relative to a lower secon, which is more than twice the premium attaching to an upper-secon egree. The fact that more men than women obtain a first class egree is therefore an important factor in the gener wage gap for grauates. Although gener ifferences in eucational attainment have attracte consierable attention an there is now a substantial literature on why such ifferences arise, the focus of much of this research has been on ifferences in performance at the primary an seconary school levels (See, for example, McDonal, Sauners an Benefiel, 1999; Powney,1996). 2 Analysis by economists to explain ifferential gener performance in higher eucation is especially limite (recent examples are, Blunell, Dearen, Gooman an Ree, 1997; Hoskins, Newstea an Dennis, 1997; Chapman, 1996a; Bartlett, Peel an Penlebury, 1993). Moreover, evience of a gener effect inepenent of other correlates of egree performance is ambiguous an statistically weak, though this often reflects eficiencies in the ata use. As a result, inferences are mae on the basis of only limite information on the other correlates of egree performance, making it ifficult to ientify the inepenent effect of gener. Many stuies also only focus on a particular iscipline, making it impossible to generalise to the wier stuent population. The purpose of the present stuy is to provie a more comprehensive analysis of gener ifferences in eucational attainment than has hitherto been possible. This is mae possible because of the recent availability of a very rich ata base taken from stuent 5

6 recors eposite with the Universities Statistical Recor (USR) by the ol universities in each year from 1973 to The ata base contain information for each stuent on a wie range of attributes incluing type of qualification obtaine, class of egree, ate of birth, marital status, A-level an/or Scottish Higher results, main entry qualification, parental occupation, type of school attene, subject of egree course an university attene. The latter variable can be use to construct a number of institution-specific variables that measure teaching quality an research intensity. 4 The present stuy is therefore able to examine the valiity of a number of hypotheses concerning the relationship between gener an eucational attainment in the context of a comprehensive analysis of the eterminants of acaemic performance. The structure of the paper is as follows. In section 1 we present an overview of the main hypotheses that have been suggeste to explain the relationship between gener an acaemic achievement. Section 2 provies a brief escription of the ata an highlights the main ifferences in the characteristics of male an female grauates. The empirical moel to be estimate is escribe in Section 3 an the results are presente in section 4. Conclusions an policy implications are iscusse in section GENDER AND DEGREE PERFORMANCE Several hypotheses have been suggeste to explain gener ifferences in egree performance an in this paper we focus on a number of the more prominent ones (Hoskins et al., 1997; Ru, 1984). However, one important explanation that we are not able to consier with the ata available is that gener ifferences in acaemic attainment are ue to psychological or biological factors. Gener ifferences have been foun in such things as 6

7 anxiety an examination stress, in self-efficacy an in the willingness to aopt risk-taking strategies in preparation for exams. However, these are not foun to account for the gener gap in egree performance. Inee, on some counts, such as motivation an work-effort questions, women score higher than men. (Mellanby et al, 2000). One explanation for observe ifferences in attainment is that they are a compositional effect an reflect gener ifferences in the types of subjects stuie an the fact that there are observe ifferences in the percentage of goo egrees aware across isciplines. Strictly speaking, if there were consistency in the application of acaemic stanars across isciplines, subject-specific effects shoul be small or non-existent. The fact that there are significant variations in egree results by subject is, however, wellocumente (Nevin, 1972; Bee an Dolton, 1985; Johnes an Taylor, 1990). These may arise because of ifferences in the type of subject material, with stuents in more quantitative subjects being more able to achieve very high or very low exam marks. There may also be an element of custom an practice whereby isciplines have, over time, establishe rather ifferent stanars. One reason commonly put forwar for why the istribution of stuents by subject area is ifferent by gener is that the relative scarcity of female faculty in traitionally male isciplines has contribute to the reluctance of females to stuy in those isciplines. However, this hypothesis has foun little empirical support (see, for example, Canes an Rosen, 1995 an Solnick, 1995) though Rothstein (1995) has foun that the percentage of faculty who are female in an institution is significantly associate with the probability that female stuents obtain an avance egree. 7

8 Table 3 presents the istribution of egree classifications by iscipline together with the proportion of female stuents in each subject group. 5 Clearly, the istribution of egree results is very ifferent across the ifferent isciplines with physical sciences, engineering an technology an mathematical sciences having proportionately more firsts than is foun in other subject areas. These are also the subject groups with the smallest proportion of female stuents. In the empirical analysis, a series of subject ummy variables are use to control for ifferences in the istribution of females across isciplines. A secon explanation for observe gener ifferences in attainment is that they reflect ifferences in acaemic aptitue. The suggestion is that the variation in ability is greater for men than it is for women an that this explains why male stuents are more likely to be foun at the extremes of the istribution of egree attainment (Holstock, 1998). Ability is, however, notoriously ifficult to measure though A-level (or Scottish Higher) scores are often use as a proxy (Johnes an Taylor, 1990). In the absence of any alternatives in the ata use in the present stuy, gener ifferences in acaemic ability will be measure using A-level score. 6 Two approaches are use in the empirical analysis. First, the gener effect on egree performance is estimate net of ability by incluing ability (as proxie by A-level/Scottish Higher score) in the moels to be estimate. Secon, we estimate preicte egree performance probabilities for stuents with maximum A- level/scottish Higher level scores. This provies an alternative estimate of the gener effect for stuents who are more homogenous in terms of acaemic ability. A further reason for gener ifferences in egree performance is that they reflect gener-relate biases in assessment. This may arise because of ifferences in the way male an female stuents respon to ifferent types of assessment - it is suggeste, for example, 8

9 that male stuents perform better in exams an worse in continuous assessment than female stuents. Alternatively, it coul be ue to prejuice an gener stereotyping by male staff. It is, however, ifficult to test this hypothesis with the ata currently available. 7 However, if gener-relate bias an prejuice o exist an vary by subject area, one inirect test of this hypothesis woul be to investigate whether, other things equal, the gener gap in attainment is ifferent across acaemic isciplines an whether it is larger in subjects that are maleominate. Although such an analysis can only be suggestive of bias, it nevertheless provies some inication of the extent to which prejuice contributes to the gener ifference in egree performance. Finally, gener ifferences in egree performance may reflect ifferences that exist between institutions either in the extent to which they awar first class egrees (possibly reflecting ifferences in the quality of institutions) or in the extent to which female stuents are isavantage across institutions. First, the impact of teaching quality an research intensity on stuent egree attainment is consiere. It has been suggeste that universities have promote an value research at the expense of teaching quality. Inee, the Dearing Report comments that, one current barrier is that staff perceive national an institutional policies as actively encouraging an recognising excellence in research, an not in teaching (The National Committee into Higher Eucation, Main Report, page 115). The present stuy will seek to examine this proposition, at least in terms of establishing how teaching quality an research intensity affect acaemic attainment. We inclue one irect measure of teaching quality an three variables that are inputs into the teaching process an are expecte to enhance teaching quality. The irect measure is the percentage of epartments grae as excellent in teaching quality assessments. One 9

10 woul expect that universities that score highly in terms of teaching quality assessments are more able to prouce a better quality output for a given level of inputs. The three other measures of teaching quality use are total university expeniture per stuent, library expeniture per stuent an the staff-stuent ratio. Both expeniture measures are inicative of the resources available to stuents an are expecte to improve the likelihoo of obtaining a goo egree. Stuents at universities with high staff-stuent ratios may receive more personal tuition an better pastoral care, both of which are expecte to improve egree performance. The measure of research intensity that we consier is the percentage of a university s total income that comes from research grants an contracts. It is expecte that universities in which there is a high stanar of research will attract better staff, provie a more stimulating environment for their stuents, an, as a result, attract more able stuents. The last institutional variable inclue is a measure of size. The effect of size on stuent performance is unclear. Smaller universities may provie better personal tuition an pastoral care thus improving stuents prospects of obtaining a goo egree. However, larger universities may be better resource an attract better staff, both of which coul increase the likelihoo of getting a goo egree. We use the number of unergrauates at the university as the possible measure of size of the institution. In aition to examining the hypotheses of primary interest we have also controlle for a number of other potential correlates of egree performance some of which may give rise to gener relate ifferences in egree performance. First, family backgroun, as measure by parental occupation, may affect stuent egree attainment if stuents from lowincome families are less well resource an are thus less able to affor the purchase of 10

11 books an other materials an equipment. They may also nee to spen more time in nonacaemic work in orer to supplement their income, thereby etracting from their stuies an lowering their level of achievement. Stuents from professional an managerial family backgrouns may also be better able to work the system an be more likely to approach acaemic staff when they are facing ifficulties in their stuies. Stuents born outsie the UK may be at a isavantage over those born in the UK if English is not their first language an/or they are less familiar with the university system an methos of assessment. This coul be offset if overseas stuents are more highly motivate an willing to work harer especially if they or their parents are responsible for tuition fees. Also inclue in the analysis is the age an marital status of the stuent. One might expect oler stuents an those who are marrie to have more initiative, self-reliance an motivation than single stuents an those who have come to university straight from school. Marrie stuents may, however, have omestic commitments which limit the amount of time spent stuying an oler stuents may fin the transition back to full-time eucation ifficult especially if they i not o well acaemically first time aroun. Two variables are inclue in this respect. The first is the type of school attene, which coul affect egree performance in a number of ways. The private sector may provie a higher quality of eucation than is available in the state sector ue to being better resource. As a result, stuents from private schools may achieve higher average A- level/higher graes compare with stuents from state schools with the same level of innate ability. Once entry into university has been achieve, however, stuents from private schools may perform less well than their counterparts from state schools holing constant A- level/higher scores. On the other han, private schools may provie their stuents with 11

12 other skills, incluing social skills, which enable stuents to aapt better to university life thereby raising egree performance, other things equal. Also inclue is the main entry qualification that was use to obtain amission to university. This will enable us to examine whether stuents who enter with no formal eucational qualifications or with qualifications other than A-levels/Highers are at a isavantage an o not perform as well as stuents with conventional acaemic prerequisites. Such stuents may be less acaemically incline or may fin full-time eucation more aruous than stuents who enter university on the basis of their A-level/Scottish Higher results. 2. DATA The USR ata use in the paper contains information on all grauates who left university in For the purposes of the present stuy, stuents of meicine an entistry, most of whose egrees are not grae in terms of the classification that is stanar in other subjects, are exclue. We also confine our analysis to stuents at universities in Englan an Wales. We ecie to exclue iniviuals at Scottish universities ue to the istinctive nature of Scottish higher eucation, which makes irect comparisons ifficult. First, a majority of stuents in Scotlan enter with School Higher qualifications, taken one year after GCSEs, rather than A-levels, as in Englan an Wales, which are usually taken two years after GCSEs, an stuy for honours egrees lasting four years as oppose to three. However, approximately 30 per cent of stuents in Scotlan choose to grauate after three years with non-honours orinary or general egrees, which o not represent faile honours as is usually the case in Englan an Wales. As a result, the classifications of egree results are not 12

13 strictly comparable. Seconly, while research assessments have been mae across the UK, Scotlan applies a ifferent system than Englan an Wales for assessing teaching quality. The analysis is also restricte to stuents for whom this was their first unergrauate egree therefore excluing those who were alreay grauates in another iscipline. Table 2 summarises the covariates that etermine egree performance separately for male an female stuents. The table shows that male grauates entere university with marginally better A-level scores an, among those whose main entry qualification is not A- levels, were more likely to have some other form of formal eucational qualification. There is little ifference between male an female stuents in terms of the type of school attene: over half of all university stuents grauating from universities in Englan an Wales in 1993 came from comprehensive schools with about one quarter being rawn from inepenent schools. Not unexpectely, a very high proportion of university stuents (aroun 60 per cent) come from professional or managerial family backgrouns with less than 15 per cent having parents with manual occupations. There are some small ifferences in the parental backgroun of male an female stuents. The proportion of female stuents whose parents are in professional an managerial occupations is higher than that for the male-stuent population an the proportion of stuents with parents in manual occupations is smaller amongst female stuents. There are significant gener ifferences in the subjects stuie at university. Broaly speaking, female stuents are more likely to grauate with a egree in creative arts, languages an relate subjects, or in one of the social sciences. On the other han, they are consierably less likely to grauate in engineering an technology or in mathematical an 13

14 physical sciences. The average age of male an female grauates is about the same an aroun 3 per cent of female stuents are marrie compare with just less than 2 per cent of male stuents. Finally, there are some ifferences in the types of institutions male an female stuents atten. On average, female stuents are in universities with lower levels of income an expeniture per stuent an with lower library expeniture an research income. The average level of teaching an research quality is slightly lower for female stuents than it is for male stuents. 3. EMPIRICAL FRAMEWORK Measuring Eucational Attainment Eucational attainment is measure in terms of class of egree, which in the USR ata is orere on a 12 point scale. To make the econometric analysis manageable, an because a number of the categories contain only a small number of observations, the USR scale was conense as follows: 5 = first class honours; 4 = upper secon class honours; 3 = lower secon class honours plus univie secon class honours; 2 = thir class honours plus unclassifie honours; 1 = pass egree plus orinary egree plus general egree; 0 = fail/rop-outs. Stuents who grauate with an aegrotat egree or with an enhance first egree (Masters) were not inclue in the analysis. There are also a small number of grauates whose egree classification is not known. Given the orere nature of the egree class variable, a natural choice is to estimate an orere probit moel. Measuring acaemic performance using egree results implicitly assumes comparability in egree stanars across isciplines an/or universities. The assumption that 14

15 the egree classification is applie in a uniform way has long been a basic premise of the UK university system though it is one that has been calle into question in recent years (Silver et al, 1995). Although we consier only pre-1992 universities, where there may be greater consensus about stanars, the possibility that there are ifferences in the way egrees are aware by institution an by iscipline cannot be rule out. The inclusion of subject stuie an the various institutional variables will capture ifferences in stanars an therefore reuce the bias this may introuce into the estimate gener effect. Measuring the Impact of Gener The male an female istributions of stuents by egree results shown in Table 1 highlight the fact that although women, on average, perform better than their male counterparts, they are unerrepresente amongst those stuents who achieve the best egree results. To measure the impact of gener on eucational attainment, separate orere probit moels are estimate for male an female grauates. These are then use to investigate whether the gener effect in terms of average egree performance arises because of ifferences between male an female stuents in ability, subject mix an the other correlates of egree performance. This analysis uses a variant of the Oaxaca-type ecomposition propose by Jones an Makepeace (1996). The methoology use in this ecomposition analysis is as follows. Using the orere probit moel, we etermine the probability of achieving a particular egree class,, separately for male an female samples, characterise by some average characteristics, X m an X f respectively. Suppose [Pr(, X i, θ i * )] is the expecte probability of any egree classification,, for a typical iniviual characterise by X m or X f, where θ i * is the vector of 15

16 16 maximum likelihoo estimates of the parameters of the orere probit moel for the i-th sample, with i = m, f, for male an female samples respectively. Therefore, the expecte graes for the typical iniviual woul be given as follows, = = = = 1 0 * * 1 0 * * ),, Pr( ),, Pr( f f f m m m X X θ θ (1) Using these expecte graes for male an female samples respectively, one can ecompose the male-female ifferential in egree performance as follows, (3) )],, Pr( ),, [Pr( )],, Pr( ),, [Pr( (2) )],, Pr( ),, [Pr( )],, Pr( ),, [Pr( 1 0 * * 1 0 * * * * 1 0 * * 1 0 * * * * + = + = = = = = f m m m f f f m f m f f m f m f m m f m X X X X X X X X θ θ θ θ θ θ θ θ In both equations (2) an (3), the first summation hols the estimate parameters constant but allows iniviual, subject an institutional characteristics to vary, giving two values for the explaine variation attributable to the ifferent characteristics of male an female stuents. The terms in the secon summation hol iniviual, subject an institutional characteristics constant, but allow the parameters to vary an therefore measure the unexplaine variation attributable to the ifferent treatment of male an female stuents in the university system. For the orere probit moel, estimate coefficients o not reflect their marginal effects an although marginal effects can be calculate these are not meaningful for iscrete explanatory variables (Greene, 2000) In a secon analysis therefore the orere probit coefficients are use to erive a number of preicte egree performance probabilities.

17 These show the likelihoo of achieving ifferent egree results using a particular set of observe characteristics (if continuous) or for the values 1, 0 (if iscrete) keeping other covariates at their mean values. The preicte probability of obtaining a particular egree for average male an female stuents are estimate from the male an female orere probit coefficients using the following formulae: Prob[ = 0] = Φ(- X'β) Prob[ = 1] = Φ(µ 1 - X'β) - Φ(- X'β) Prob[ = 2] = Φ(µ 2 - X'β) - Φ(µ 1 - X'β) Prob[ = 3] = Φ(µ 3 - X'β) - Φ(µ 2 - X'β) Prob[ = 4] = Φ(µ 4 - X'β) - Φ(µ 3 - X'β) Prob[ = 5] = 1 - Φ(µ 4 - X'β) where Φ is the cumulative normal istribution function such that the sum total of all these probabilities is equal to one. These preicte probabilities are use to stuy gener ifferences in egree performance by acaemic aptitue, subject area an institutionspecificfactors. 4. RESULTS. The eterminants of egree performance Before consiering the main finings of the empirical analysis, two sources of bias are note. First, the analysis unertaken here only consiers stuents who starte at university an exclues those who o not go to university, either through choice or because they i not 17

18 obtain the necessary qualifications. A recent stuy by Leslie an Drinkwater (1999), however, suggests that there are very few gener ifferences in the eterminants of participation in higher eucation. The fact that we have not controlle for non-participation shoul not therefore affect the estimates of the gener effect presente here. A secon potential source of bias is self-selection by subject. If female stuents are generally less incline to enter the sciences an engineering, those who o so may be more motivate or able in these subjects than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, we are not able to moel the subject choice ecision though we are able to control for ifferences in the istribution across isciplines by gener. Estimates of the orere probit moel of acaemic attainment for male (column 1) an female (column 2) stuents are shown in Table 4. Before consiering the implications of the results in the context of the main concern of the paper, a number of interesting relationships between egree performance an observe characteristics are briefly highlighte. First, acaemic aptitue, as proxie by A-level an Higher-level scores, is foun to have a strong positive effect on egree attainment. Type of school attene also affects stuent achievement over an above the effects of A-level /Higher level score. The results inicate that stuents who come to university from comprehensive schools perform better, on average, than those who attene other types of school. The ifferential is largest compare with stuents from inepenent schools. This lens support to the iea that stuents from private schools have an avantage over those from state schools in gaining amission to university because they are able to achieve higher average A-level graes for a given level of stuent quality. It also suggests that consieration shoul be given to this when 18

19 formulating university amissions policy an lens some support, at least, for policies aime at increasing access to university. However, stuents with no formal qualifications or GCE are less likely to o better at university, holing constant the other covariates, than stuents whose main entry qualification is A-levels or some other form of eucational qualification, such as HND or the Certificate in Eucation. The results also inicate that mature stuents o better than younger ones though the relationship between age an acaemic performance is concave an age has a negative impact on performance for those age 35 years an over. Marrie stuents have lower levels of acaemic achievement compare with single stuents, presumably ue to their greater omestic commitments. Stuents born outsie the UK are more likely to o well compare to those born in the UK, however, the effect is insignificant. Stuents whose parents are in managerial an professional occupations are at an avantage over those from other socio-economic backgrouns, namely, those in jobs relate to clerical, personal services, manual an others (not specifie category). It is clear that significant ifferences remain in the sprea of results by subject even after controlling for stuents iniviual attributes an pre-higher eucation an higher eucation institutional characteristics an that these effects vary by gener. In particular, the istribution of egree results across the egree classification is, on average, less favourable in agriculture an veterinary sciences, physical sciences, mathematical sciences, engineering an technology than in business aministration an finance subjects (the reference group). Male stuent performance is also poorer in the social sciences an in architecture an 19

20 relate stuies but this is not the case for female stuents. Female stuents in humanities are foun to perform better than those in the reference group whereas male stuents are foun to o worse, on average. Stuents grauating in biological sciences an languages an mass communications an information sciences perform on a par with those in the reference group, other things equal. As for university-relate variables, the finings are, first, that higher research income an teaching quality have a strong positive impact on male stuent achievement. This raise some oubt about the view that research assessment exercises have le staff to neglect their teaching uties in favour of pursuing their research interests as implie by the Dearing Report. A strong research recor also enhances female attainment, though teaching quality oes not appear to have an effect. In aition higher staff-stuent ratio an library expeniture (per stuent) are foun to increase stuent performance significantly. However, higher total expeniture per stuent oes not necessarily enhance acaemic achievement while higher stuent numbers seem to have an insignificant effect on acaemic achievement. Explaining gener ifferences in egree results The results shown in Table 4 are use to obtain the preicte probabilities that male an female stuents achieve ifferent egree results. These preicte probability estimates are shown in Table 5. The results show that the likelihoo that female stuents get a first is 5 per cent compare with 8 per cent for male stuents. 8 What is interesting about the results, however, is that when the male equation is use to preict the probability of getting a first for female stuents, using mean female attributes, the probability of a female stuent achieving a first increases to 7.3 per cent. Inee, the istribution of preicte egree results for female 20

21 stuents base on the male orere probit results mirrors that for male stuents using the same set of coefficients. Similarly, when the estimate coefficients from the female equation are use to preict the istribution for male stuents, using the mean male attributes, it is foun to be almost ientical to that for female stuents base on the same set of coefficients. Gener ifferences in egree performance, incluing the likelihoo of getting a first, thus have less to o with gener ifferences in iniviual, subject or institutional attributes but almost entirely reflect ifferences in the way these attributes impact upon performance. The results of the ecomposition exercise (Table 6) provie further support for the notion that ifferences in attributes are relatively insignificant in explaining gener ifferences in eucational attainment with only 21 per cent of the gener gap in attainment being ue to ifferences in male an female characteristics. It seems clear therefore that gener ifferences in eucational attainment have little to o with ifferences in characteristics. We now consier the primary hypotheses outline earlier, namely whether ifferences in acaemic aptitue, bias or prejuice in assessment, an institution-specific factors contribute to observe gener ifferences in eucational attainment. This is one by computing the preicte egree performance probability istributions for male an female stuents by A-level score, subject categories an institution-specific characteristics. Table 7 presents the preicte egree performance probabilities calculate for stuents with maximum A-level (or Scottish Higher) points, with the other covariates taking their mean values. As the table shows, the most acaemically able stuents are significantly more likely to obtain better egrees, other things equal. However, a much smaller 21

22 proportion of female stuents are preicte to achieve first class egrees. Notwithstaning the fact that A-level score is an imperfect measure of acaemic aptitue, the results suggest that even amongst the more able stuents, females continue to be uner-represente at the top en of the egree performance istribution. Differences in measure acaemic ability therefore cannot account for the observe gener ifferences in eucational attainment amongst university stuents in Englan an Wales. Turning now to the impact of subject area on the istribution of results. To investigate whether there are subject-specific effects, inepenent of the effects of the other covariates, the preicte probability istribution of egree results are estimate for each subject area with the other covariates again taking their gener-specific mean values. The results (shown in Table 8) illustrate a number of important features about subject-specific effects. First, there is a consierable egree of consistency in the results for male stuents in the sense that, holing other things constant, the probability of a male stuent achieving a first class egree oes not vary very much by subject area. The three exceptions are agriculture an veterinary sciences, architecture an relate subjects an eucation, all of which account for only a small fraction of the stuent population. The subject-specific effects for female stuents, on the other han, show more variation with the likelihoo of obtaining a first class egree highest in creative arts, business an finance an in eucation an relate stuies. They are significantly lower in mathematical sciences, architecture an relate subjects an in agriculture an veterinary sciences. There is, however, little evience that female stuents uner-perform more in maleominate subjects such as the sciences an engineering, which casts some oubt on the notion that bias an male prejuice significantly reuce the likelihoo of female stuents 22

23 achieving first class egrees. Although it is the case that the few subject areas in which the likelihoo of getting a first is higher for women than it is for men are also subjects that have a high percentage of female stuents, there are a number of male-ominate subjects in which the gener gap is relatively small. The final feature of the results highlighte here is that, other things equal, female stuents are less likely to achieve a first class egree in nearly all subject areas though the size of the gener gap oes vary by subject area. These results suggest that subject-specific effects o contribute to the gener wage gap but that they are not linke in a significant way to whether a subject area is male-ominate. Finally, we examine whether the extent of the gener gap in eucational attainment varies across universities. Table 9 an 10 show the expecte probability istribution of egree results by university calculate for the institution-specific values of the institutional variables an the mean values of the other covariates. That we are unable to name specific universities limits the sorts of comments that can be mae to more general statements about university-specific effects. Notwithstaning this, a number of important finings are evient in the results. First, there is more consistency in the preicte probabilities of egree results than is the case in the actual ata. Focusing on the likelihoo of achieving a first class egree, the ratio of the percentage of males to females by university with first class egrees base on the preicte probabilities has a mean of 1.63 an stanar eviation of This compares with a mean of 1.47 an stanar eviation of for the actual ratio of the percentage of males to females achieving firsts by university. Secon, nearly all those universities that awar relatively more firsts to men than to women are also foun to have high ratios of the preicte probabilities for men an women. In other wors, the fact that women significantly uner-perform in some universities cannot fully be explaine by such 23

24 things as subject mix, acaemic aptitue an the other observables we have controlle for. Inee, there are a number of universities in which the university-specific effect works against such things as subject mix with the result that women o proportionately worse than woul be expecte on the basis of other observables. Finally, there is only a weak relationship between the proportion of firsts aware by a university an the gener gap between male an female stuents - the correlation coefficient between the proportion of firsts aware (either male or female) an the gener gap is an is not significantly ifferent from zero. 5. CONCLUSIONS Gener ifferences in egree performance are striking, but little unerstoo. In this paper we have explore the relationship between gener an acaemic achievement controlling for various personal an institutional attributes. Overall, women are less likely than male stuents to get a first class egree but are more likely to grauate with an upper secon. In this paper we have investigate why acaemic achievement iffers by gener an, in particular, why female stuents are less likely to achieve first class egrees. Our finings inicate, first, that ifferences in such things as subject mix an iniviual an institutional characteristics cannot explain the gener gap in achievement to any significant egree. An important conclusion of the analysis is that gener ifferences in acaemic achievement arise because of ifferences in the way these attributes impact upon performance. A number of possible explanations for these ifferences were then consiere. These focuse on ifferences in acaemic ability, male bias or prejuice in the way stuents area assesse an institution-specific factors. The results provie no support for the 24

25 hypothesis that ifferences in acaemic aptitue contribute to gener ifferences in eucational achievement. Even amongst the most acaemically able stuents, a gener gap in performance at the top en of the istribution persists, other things equal. Neither is there support for the hypothesis that male prejuice or bias systematically acts against female stuents. Although there is evience of subject-specific-effects that impact upon the likelihoo of female stuents achieving first class egrees, it is not the case that female stuents are especially isavantage in male-ominate subject areas. Finally, there is some evience that institution-specific factors affect the likelihoo of achieving a goo egree, though they are not able to account for the gener ifferences in performance. The fact that the results presente in the paper suggest that acaemic aptitue, subject-specific factors an institutional attributes o not account for much of the gener ifference in acaemic performance possibly suggests that such ifferences arise for reasons that are gener-specific. However, although Mellanby et al (2000) fin gener ifferences in a range of psychological variables (incluing anxiety an examination stress an in the types of strategies aopte in exams) they are not responsible for the gener gap in egree performance. This woul seem to suggest that the explanation for gener ifferences in acaemic performance is complex an involves interactions between the ifferent hypotheses rather than reflecting one particular set of consierations. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors woul like to thank Wiji Arulampalan, Geraint Johnes, Gerry Makepeace, Davi Peel an Helen Robinson for comments an suggestions an Richar Jones for excellent research assistance. The authors are also grateful to the epositors of the ata an 25

26 the ESRC Data Archive for permission to use it an making it available to us. The usual isclaimer applies. 26

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28 Chapman, K. (1995). Geography egrees an gener: Patterns an possible explanations. Area, vol. 27, pp Chapman, K. (1996a). An analysis of egree results in geography by gener. Assessment an Evaluation in Higher Eucation, vol. 21, pp Chapman, K. (1996b). Entry qualifications, egree results an value-ae in UK universities. Oxfor Review of Eucation, vol. 22, pp Dolton, P. Greenaway D. an Vignoles A. (1997). Whither higher eucation? An economic perspective for the Dearing Committee Inquiry. Economic Journal, Vol. 107, pp Greene, W. H., (2000) Econometric Analysis, (4 th eition) Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. Gregg P. an Machin S. (1993). Is the glass ceiling cracking?: Gener pay ifferences an access to promotion among UK executives. (mimeo) LSE Centre for Economic Performance. Hanushek E.A. (1979). Conceptual an empirical issues in the estimation of eucational prouction functions. Journal of Human Resources, vol. 15, pp

29 Higher Eucation Quality Council (HEQC) (1996). Inter-institutional Variability of Degree Results: An Analysis of Selecte Subjects, Lonon. Holstock, L (1998). 'The Ratio of Male to Female Unergrauates' in, J Rafor (e) Gener an Choice in Eucation an Occupation, Routlege, Lonon. Hoskins, S., Newstea, S., an Dennis, I., (1997). ' Degree Performance as a Function of Age, Gener, Prior Qualifications an Discipline Stuie', Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Eucation, vol. 22, pp Johnes, G. (1992). Performance inicators in higher eucation: A survey of recent work. Oxfor Review of Economic Policy, vol. 8, pp Johnes, G. (1997). Costs an inustrial structure in contemporary British higher eucation. Economic Journal, vol. 107, pp Johnes, J. an Taylor, J. (1990). Performance Inicators in Higher Eucation, The Society for Research into Higher Eucation an Open University Press, Buckingham. Jones, D. an Makepeace, G. (1996). Equal worth, equal opportunities: Pay an promotion in an internal labour market. Economic Journal, vol. 106, pp

30 Martin, M. (1997) 'Emotional an Cognitive Effects of Examination Proximity in Female an Male Stuents', Oxfor Review of Eucation, vol. 20, pp McDonal, A., Sauners, L. an Benefiel,P. (1999) Boy s Achievement, Progress, Motivation an Participation: Issues Raise by the Recent Literature, The National Founation for Eucational Research, Slough, Berks, March McNabb, R. an Wass, V. (1997). Male-female salary ifferentials in British universities. Oxfor Economic Papers, vol. 49, pp Mellanby, J., Martin, M., an O'Doherty,. J. (2000). The 'Gener Gap' in Final Examination results at Oxfor University', British Journal of Psychology, vol. 91, pp The National Committee into Higher Eucation (1997) Higher Eucation in the Learning Society, Report of the National Committee, HMSO, Lonon. Nevin, E. (1972). How not to get a first. Economic Journal, vol. 82, pp Powney, J. (1996) Gener an Attainment: A Review, Scottish Council for Research in Eucation, SCRE Research Report No. 81, December, Einburgh Rothstein, D. S. (1995) Do Female Faculty Influence Female Stuents Eucational an Labour Market Attainment? Inustrial an Labor Relations Review, vol. 48, pp

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32 TABLE 1 THE DISTRIBUTION OF DEGREE RESULTS BY GENDER, 1993 Male stuents Female stuents First Class Upper secon Lower Secon Thir Class Pass, other egrees

33 TABLE 2. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Male stuents Female stuents Mean St. Deviation Mean St. Deviation Age Marrie School Type Others Tech Comprehensive Grammar Inepenent Sixth Form College A Level Score Scotish Highers (av. for those taking Highers) Main Entry Qualification A-levels Other Qualifications No Formal Qualifications Born in the UK Parental Occupation Professional & Managerial Clerical Personal Services Skille Manual Unskille Not specifie Subject Languages Information Sciences Mathematical Sciences Subjects relate to meicine Multi-iscipline Physical Sciences Architecture & Relate Creative Arts Biological Science Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences Business/Finance Eucation Engineering & Technology Humanities Institutional variables RAE Ranking Percentage of income from research contracts/grants Expeniture Per Stuent Income per stuent Library spening per stuent Percentage of epartments grae excellent in TQA Number of cases

34 TABLE 3 DISTRIBUTION OF DEGREE PERFORMANCE BY SUBJECT AND PERCENTAGE OF FEMALE STUDENTS Subject Area Female (%) First Two-one Two-two Thir Other Noncompletion Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences Architecture &relate Creative Arts Biological Science Business/Finance Eucation Engineering & Technology Humanities Languages Information Sciences Mathematical Sciences Subjects allie to meicine Multi-iscipline Physical Sciences Social Sciences