Role models, peer effects, and academic and professional trajectories of students in STEM fields

The factors behind the gender wage gap are receiving increasing attention in the economic literature. Empirically, there have been no conclusive results on this question. This article proposes to analyze a relatively less explored factor pointed in the literature that could affect the wage gender gap; that is, the role of peers in the classroom as a transmission channel of role models in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), subjects in a developing country such as Uruguay. Specifically, this article aims to contribute to the literature by addressing the causal effects of peers’ transmission of gender stereotypes through their link to workers in the STEM areas, and its long-lasting effects on individuals’ career choices and labor market performance.

We use a rich database –that combines administrative records of the National Administration of Public Education, records of the largest university in Uruguay (that accounts for around 86% of university students), and administrative records from social security.

The results we find point out to a negative feedback from female involvement in STEM fields, where girls reduce their chance to choose a STEM academic trajectory (at high school or at college) when they are exposed to more cases of adult women choosing a STEM major. These results should be a relevant input for the design of public policies that seeks to promote gender equity through the promotion of equitable stereotypes in STEM fields, yielding to women’s and men’s attitudinal and behavioral changes in different spheres of life, i.e.: educational and labor participation choices; household tasks division, child care, among others.