| By: |
Anelli, Massimo (University of California, Davis);
Peri, Giovanni (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: |
In this paper we use a newly constructed dataset following 30,000 Italian
individuals from high school to labor market and we analyze whether the gender
composition of peers in high school affected their choice of college major,
their academic performance and their labor market income. We leverage the fact
that the composition of high school classmates (peers), within school-cohort
and teacher-group, was not chosen by the students and it was as good as
random. We find that male students graduating from classes with at least 80%
of male peers were more likely to choose "prevalently male" (PM) college
majors (Economics, Business and Engineering). However, this higher propensity
to enroll in PM majors faded away during college (through transfers and
attrition) so that men from classes with at least 80% of male peers in high
school did not have higher probability of graduating in PM majors. They had
instead worse college performance and did not exhibit any difference in income
or labor market outcomes after college. We do not find significant effects on
women. |
| Keywords: |
peer effects, high school, gender, choice of college major, academic performance, wages |
| JEL: |
I21 J16 J24 J31 Z13 |
| Date: |
2015–06 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9119&r=spo |