Adolescence Development and the Math Gender Gap

Using different production function models, we study the causal association between adolescence development and the increase in the gap in math performance between boys and girls. We use data from the 1958 British National Child Development Study, a longitudinal survey of all British children born in the first week of March 1958, containing unique information on puberty development and educational outcomes from childhood into adolescence. Evidence from rich production function models estimated on boys’ and girls’ math skills reveals that the impact of puberty varies by age of the child and gender, and this heterogeneity can explain about two thirds of the math gender gap. We additionally find differential impacts of puberty development by child age, study subject, puberty measure, and self-perceived math ability. Taken together, these results point to social mechanisms behind the effect of puberty development on the math gender gap