XML

Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 30 , No. 4
[Paper List] [Go to Volume List]

[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 409-430
Abbreviation: SJE
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 30 Nov 2017
Received 02 Nov 2017 Revised 07 Nov 2017 Accepted 16 Nov 2017

School Gender Composition and Academic Performance: Evidence from Transition from Single-Sex to Coeducational Schools
Jungmin Lee ; Hye Yeon Park
Jungmin Lee, Professor, Department of Economics, Seoul National University & IZA, Seoul, South Korea (jmlee90@snu.ac.kr)
Hye Yeon Park, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea

Funding Information ▼

JEL Classification: I2, J1, H5

Abstract

We examine how the gender composition of students within schools affects their academic performance. For causal identification, we exploit within-school variation in the gender composition because of policy-driven transitions from single-sex to coeducational schools. In Seoul, South Korea, several high schools were converted from single-sex to coeducational schools between 1998 and 2003, by the city superintendent’s Coeducational School Expansion Policy. We find that boys’ test score dropped when their schools began to admit girls based on administrative test score data on standardized college entrance examination. However, the negative effect disappeared when the school transition was complete. We find no effect on girls who were admitted to previously boys-only schools.

Keywords: Gender composition of students, Single-sex schools, Coeducational schools, High school academic performance, College entrance examination score
Acknowledgments

We would like to thank discussants and seminar participants at the CSWEP session of the ASSA meetings, the Asian Conference on Applied Micro and Econometrics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Korean Society of Labor Economists for their valuable comments. This paper is based on the Master’s thesis of Hye Yeon Park. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016S1A5A2A01025292).

References
1. Abadie, Alberto, Alexis Diamond, and Jens Hainmueller. “Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 105 (No. 490 2010): 493-505.
2. Billger, Sherrilyn M. “On Reconstructing School Segregation: The Efficacy and Equity of Single-Sex Schooling.” Economics of Education Review 28 (No. 3 2009): 393-402.
3. Booth, Alison L., Lina Cardona-Sosa, and Patrick Nolen. Do Single-sex Classes Affect Exam Scores? An Experiment in a Coeducational University. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7207, 2013.
4. Dustmann, Christian, Hyejin Ku, and Do Won Kwak. Why Are Single-Sex School Successful? CESifo Working Paper No. 6535, 2017.
5. Halpern, Diane F., Lise Eliot, Rebecca S. Bigler, Richard A. Fabes, Laura D. Hanish, Janet Hyde, Lynn S. Liben, and Carol Lynn Martin. “The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling.” Science 333 (No. 6050 2011): 1706-07.
6. Harker, Richard. “Achievement, Gender and the Single-Sex/Coed Debate.” British Journal of Sociology of Education 21 (No. 2 2000): 203-18.
7. Hoxby, Caroline. Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learning from Gender and Race Variation. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 7867, 2000.
8. Jackson, C. Kirabo. “Single-Sex Schools, Student Achievement, and Course Selection: Evidence from Rule-based Student Assignments in Trinidad and Tobago.” Journal of Public Economics 96 (No. 1 2012): 173–87.
9. Kang, Changhui. “Classroom Peer Effects and Academic Achievement: Quasi-Randomization Evidence from South Korea.” Journal of Urban Economics 61 (No. 3 2007): 458-95.
10. Lavy, Victor and Analía Schlosser. “Mechanisms and Impacts of Gender Peer Effects at School.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3 (No. 2 2011): 1-33.
11. Lee, Soohyung, Lesley J. Turner, Seokjin Woo, and Kyunghee Kim. All or Nothing? The Impact of School and Classroom Gender Composition on Effort and Academic Achievement. NBER Working Paper No. w20722, 2014.
12. Lee, Valerie E. and Helen M. Marks. “Who Goes Where? Choice of Single-Sex and Coeducational Independent Secondary Schools.” Sociology of Education 65 (No. 3 1992): 226-53.
13. Mael, Fred A. “Single-Sex and Coeducational Schooling: Relationships to Socioemotional and Academic Development.” Review of Educational Research 68 (No. 2 1998): 101-29.
14. Myer, Peter. “Learning Separately: The Case for Single-Sex Schools.” Education Next 8 (No. 1 2008) 10-21.
15. Park, Hyunjoon, Jere R. Behrman, and Jaesung Choi. “Single-Sex Education: Positive Effects.” Science 335 (No. 6065 2012): 165-6.
16. Park, Hyunjoon, Jere R. Behrman, and Jaesung Choi. “Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools.” Demography 50 (No. 2 2013): 447-69.
17. Schneeweis, Nicole and Martina Zweimüller. “Girls, Girls, Girls: Gender Composition and Female School Choice.” Economics of Education Review 31 (No. 4 2012): 482-500.
18. Whitmore, Diane. “Resource and Peer Impacts on Girls’ Academic Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment.” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 95 (No. 2 2005): 199-203.
 

Editorial Office, Seoul Journal of Economics, Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University 599 Gwanangno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-746, Korea
Tel: +82-2-880-5434 | Fax: +82-2-888-4454 | E-mail: sje@plaza.snu.ac.kr
Copyright (c) 2020 SJE. All rights reserved.