Discrimination or a Competitive Climate? Why Women Cannot Translate Their Better High School Grades into University Grades

TY - JOUR

T1 - Discrimination or a Competitive Climate? Why Women Cannot Translate Their Better High School Grades into University Grades

AU - Galos, Diana Roxana

AU - Strauss, Susanne

AU - Hinz, Thomas

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/12

Y1 - 2024/12

N2 - While girls have better grades than boys in high school, this does not translate into better performance of young women, as compared to young men, in university. Due to the high signalling value of university grades for subsequent income and employment outcomes, this has important consequences for gender inequalities at labour market entry. However, previous studies have not yet examined the potential barriers that might limit women’s ability to maintain their previous academic achievement at the university level. Drawing on the nation-wide Student Survey, this study addresses this shortcoming by investigating perceived discrimination against women and perceived competition among students as two potential correlates. Our findings first confirm that while girls have better grades in high school than boys, this has reversed at the university level. Further, high school grades are less strongly correlated with university grades for girls compared to boys. Our results highlight that young women perceive there to be more discrimination against women as well as higher levels of competition within their field of study, than do their male peers. The study further demonstrates that an increased level of perceived discrimination is strongly associated with lower university performance for young women, thereby plausibly hindering their ability to reach their full academic potential.

AB - While girls have better grades than boys in high school, this does not translate into better performance of young women, as compared to young men, in university. Due to the high signalling value of university grades for subsequent income and employment outcomes, this has important consequences for gender inequalities at labour market entry. However, previous studies have not yet examined the potential barriers that might limit women’s ability to maintain their previous academic achievement at the university level. Drawing on the nation-wide Student Survey, this study addresses this shortcoming by investigating perceived discrimination against women and perceived competition among students as two potential correlates. Our findings first confirm that while girls have better grades in high school than boys, this has reversed at the university level. Further, high school grades are less strongly correlated with university grades for girls compared to boys. Our results highlight that young women perceive there to be more discrimination against women as well as higher levels of competition within their field of study, than do their male peers. The study further demonstrates that an increased level of perceived discrimination is strongly associated with lower university performance for young women, thereby plausibly hindering their ability to reach their full academic potential.

KW - Competition

KW - Discrimination

KW - Fields of study

KW - Gender

KW - German student survey

KW - Grades

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201799327&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11162-024-09815-5

DO - 10.1007/s11162-024-09815-5

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85201799327

SN - 0361-0365

VL - 65

SP - 1804

EP - 1825

JO - Research in Higher Education

JF - Research in Higher Education

IS - 8

ER -