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ERIC Number: ED672434
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 57
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Closing the Gender Gap in STEM: Role of Performance Feedback and Advice. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1166
Fulya Ersoy; Derek Rury
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
The gender gap in STEM careers is shaped in part by educational choices. This study investigates two interventions--absolute performance feedback and personalized advice--aiming at narrowing the gender disparities in investments in math skills. Using an online lab experiment, participants chose between a math or verbal task after receiving one of three treatments: performance feedback on prior tasks, informative advice on task selection, or both. In the absence of interventions, a significant gender gap emerged, with females less likely to select the math task. Providing performance feedback closed this gap by increasing female participation in math tasks while leaving male choices unchanged. Among participants eligible for both math and verbal advice, either performance feedback or randomly assigned math advice significantly increased the likelihood of females choosing math, with no measurable effect on males. Notably, the gender of the advisor--randomly assigned in our study--had no significant impact on advice effectiveness. These findings suggest that performance feedback and targeted advice can encourage female participation in math-related tasks, offering insights into strategies for reducing gender disparities in STEM fields.
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A