Handbook of economic field experiments. Volume 2

Abstract

Can the salience of gender identity affect the math performance of 7-8 year old girls? Third-grade girls and boys were required to solve arithmetical problems of varied difficulty. Prior to the test, one half of the participants had their gender identity activated. Results showed that activation of gender identity affected girls’ performance but not boys. When their gender was activated as opposed to when it was not, girls solved more problems when the material was less difficult but underperformed on the difficult problems. Results are discussed with regard to the stereotype threat literature.