Gender Gaps in Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills in Early Primary Grades : Evidence from Rural Indonesia
This paper examines gender gaps in cognitive and non-cognitive skills among a sample of more than 10,000 children between the ages of 6 and 9 in rural Indonesia. In terms of cognitive skills, the analysis finds evidence of gender gaps favoring girl...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/09/26816715/gender-gaps-cognitive-non-cognitive-skills-early-primary-grades-evidence-rural-indonesia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25149 |
| Summary: | This paper examines gender gaps in
cognitive and non-cognitive skills among a sample of more
than 10,000 children between the ages of 6 and 9 in rural
Indonesia. In terms of cognitive skills, the analysis finds
evidence of gender gaps favoring girls at each age in test
scores of language (0.158-0.252 standard deviations) and
mathematics (0.155-0.243 standard deviations) in the early
years of primary school. Girls also perform significantly
better than boys in non-cognitive skills, with higher scores
on the social competence (0.086-0.247 standard deviations)
and emotional maturity domains (0.213-0.296 standard
deviations) of the Early Development Instrument, a finding
consistent with research from high-income countries.
Decomposition analyses are used to investigate the extent to
which enrollment patterns in preschool and primary school as
well as parenting practices contribute to these gender gaps
in cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Standard
decomposition approaches are extended to correct for
selection on observables. The findings show that gender
differences in enrollment patterns play a role in explaining
gender gaps in test scores, while differences in parenting
practices do not. However, the relative contribution of
observed factors to gender gaps depends on the available
quality of preschool services in the child’s village and
whether the outcome of interest is cognitive or
non-cognitive skills. |
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