Diverse Realities
How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas Staiger & Michele Tine
NBER Working Paper, January 2025
Abstract:
We find that test score optional policies harm the likelihood of elite college admission for high achieving applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. We show that at one elite college campus, SAT (and ACT) scores predict first year college GPA equally well across income and other demographic groups; high school GPA and class rank offer little additional predictive power. Under test score optional policies, less advantaged applicants who are high achieving submit test scores at too low a rate, significantly reducing their admissions chances; such applicants increase their admissions probability by a factor of 3.6x (from 2.9 percent to 10.2 percent) when they report their scores. High achieving first-generation applicants raise admissions chances by 2.4x by reporting scores. Much more than commonly understood, elite institutions interpret test scores in the context of background, and availability of test scores on an application can promote rather than hinder social mobility.
Unraveling the gender gap in negotiation: How children’s perceptions of negotiation and of themselves relate to their bargaining outcomes
Sophie Arnold, Katherine McAuliffe & Andrei Cimpian
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Women tend to negotiate less than men, which -- along with other well-documented interpersonal and structural factors -- contributes to persistent gender gaps in pay for equal work. Here, we explore the developmental origins of these gender differences in negotiation. Across three studies (N = 462), we investigated 6- to 12-year-old girls’ and boys’ perceptions of negotiation (e.g., how common and permissible it is to negotiate) and gave children opportunities to negotiate for resources themselves. These opportunities were hypothetical in Studies 1 and 2 and actual in Study 3. Overall, girls and boys had similar perceptions of negotiation. However, the links between perceptions and negotiation behavior often differed by gender, especially in the context of an actual negotiation (Study 3). Boys’ -- but not girls’ -- negotiation requests were higher when they thought that (a) other children asked for more, (b) it was permissible to ask for more, (c) they would not receive backlash for asking for more, and (d) asking for more would actually get them more. In contrast, girls’ negotiation requests were uniquely predicted by how competent they thought they were at the task for which they negotiated a reward -- that is, how deserving they thought they were. Notably, boys overestimated their competence (both relative to girls and relative to reality) and negotiated for more resources as a result. Understanding the early origins of gender differences in negotiation provides insight into how to prevent the emergence of such differences and dismantle persistent gender inequities in society.
Is There Intersectional Labor Market Discrimination?
Joanne McLaughlin & David Neumark
NBER Working Paper, January 2025
Abstract:
We present new and rich evidence on intersectional discrimination in labor markets, focusing on wages in the traditional residual wage differential approach to discrimination. We interpret “intersectional discrimination” in the framework of interactions, in which discrimination along two intersecting dimensions leads to discrimination that exceeds the sum of its parts. We make three contributions. First, we resolve puzzling contradictory findings on intersectional discrimination in existing research -- with studies using similar data and methods reaching diametrically opposite conclusions. Second, we extend the analysis of potential intersectional discrimination to more dimensions than have typically been considered in past research. Third, we explore issues of bias in the wage equations we estimate from selection on employment. Our overall conclusion from these different types of evidence is that there is little or no evidence consistent with intersectional discrimination in wage differentials among the large set of groups (and combinations of groups) we study, and indeed most evidence points in the opposite direction.
Gendered Job Search: An Analysis of Gender Differences in Reservation Wages and Job Applications
Gokce Basbug & Roberto Fernandez
ILR Review, January 2025, Pages 217-239
Abstract:
Using a weekly survey of unemployed workers, this study examines gender differences in reservation wages and applied-for occupational categories. The analysis shows that a large portion of the gender difference in reservation wages is attributable to the fact that women and men search for different occupations. Findings further demonstrate that women are more likely to apply to occupations with higher percentages of female incumbents, and they target these occupations from the earlier stages of their job search, rather than adjusting their preferences over the course of unemployment. Further analysis shows that women are more likely to apply for occupational categories that offer greater flexibility in working hours, more opportunities for interpersonal interactions, less critical decision-making, and a less competitive environment. Finally, the analysis reveals that household responsibilities, particularly the number of children, and willingness to take risks are important factors influencing women’s decisions to pursue occupations with less demanding work hours.
Toward an Understanding of Discrimination When Multiple Channels Exist
Majid Ahmadi et al.
NBER Working Paper, January 2025
Abstract:
When multiple forces potentially underlie discriminatory behavior, pinning down the precise sources becomes a challenge, making proposed policy solutions speculative. This study introduces an empirical approach, tightly linked to theory, to dissect two specific channels of discrimination: customer bias and managerial bias. To illustrate our framework, we integrate proprietary data with several publicly available datasets to uncover channels of discrimination within the Major League Baseball draft. Our analysis reveals that customer preferences significantly influence the drafting of players at the top end of the draft -- those likely to gain immediate public attention and eventually play for the club. Conversely, we observe managerial homophily in the latter parts of the draft, where players who attract little attention and have minimal chances of playing for the club are selected. The observed preferential bias at both ends of the draft incurs a substantial opportunity cost. However, bias at the top end unduly affects competitiveness. Our findings provide significant implications for future research on measuring discrimination and addressing the challenge of multiple channels.
Maladaptive but malleable: Gender-science stereotypes emerge early but are modifiable by language
Michelle Wang et al.
Child Development, forthcoming
Abstract:
Gender-science stereotypes emerge early in childhood, but little is known about the developmental processes by which they arise. The present study tested the hypothesis that language implying scientists are a special and distinct kind of person contributes to the development of gender-science stereotypes, even when it does not communicate stereotypic content. One cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies with racially and geographically diverse children (primarily from the United States; ages 4–5; N = 872, tested 2020–2022) revealed that gender stereotypes about science versus art (a) emerge before elementary school, (b) arise from commonplace identity-emphasizing language, especially among girls, and (c) can be durably disrupted by subtle changes to language. This study identifies a promising way to counteract stereotypes at their roots.
Social Status, Economic Development and Female Labor Force (Non) Participation
Kaivan Munshi & Swapnil Singh
NBER Working Paper, September 2024
Abstract:
This research provides a status-based explanation for the persistent increase in female labor force non-participation (FLFNP) that often accompanies economic development. This explanation is based on the idea that households or ethnic groups in developing economies can signal their wealth, and thereby increase their social status, by withdrawing their women from the labor force. If the value of social status or the willingness to bear the signaling cost is increasing with economic development, then this would explain the persistent increase in FLFNP. To provide empirical support for this argument, we utilize two independent sources of exogenous variation -- across Indian districts in the cross-section and within districts over time -- to establish that status considerations determine rural FLFNP. Our status-based model, which is used to derive the preceding tests, is able to match the increase in rural Indian FLFNP that motivates our analysis. Counterfactual simulations of the estimated model indicate that conventional policy prescriptions, such as a reduction in the cost of female education, could raise FLFNP by increasing potential household incomes and, hence, the willingness to compete for social status. The steep increase in female education in recent decades could paradoxically have increased FLFNP in India even further.
Black Economic Progress in the Jim Crow South: Evidence from Rosenwald Schools
Shariq Mohammed & Paul Mohnen
Journal of Economic History, forthcoming
Abstract:
This paper studies the labor market impact of the Rosenwald Schools Initiative, a school construction program in the early twentieth-century South. Using a new sample linking Social Security and census records, we find that exposure to Rosenwald schools raised Black women’s labor force participation and occupational standing in 1940; however, we find little evidence that Black men’s occupational standing significantly improved. Blacks made no discernible gains in jobs where they were underrepresented, while the gains they achieved were concentrated in jobs where they were commonly found. This suggests that the scope for Black occupational advancement was limited around 1940.