The importance of external assessments: High school math and gender gaps in STEM degrees, 2022, Burgess et al

(education research not medicine, concerns gender imbalance in STEM - may have influence on research further down the line, attitudes in medicine etc)

The importance of external assessments: High school math and gender gaps in STEM degrees

Simon Burgessa, Daniel Sloth Hauberg, Beatrice Schindler Rangvid, Hans Henrik Sievertsen

Abstract
We exploit the random allocation to a semi-external assessment in Math (SEAM) at the end of high school in Denmark to test the effect of SEAM on subsequent enrollment and graduation in post-secondary education. We find that SEAM in high school reduces the gender gap in graduation from post-secondary STEM degrees, and we discuss possible mechanisms. Our results show that cancelling external assessments, as was temporarily implemented in many regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, may impact gender differences in human capital accumulation in the long run.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775722000437

Blog article on the study:

Why don’t more girls do science ?

Why do fewer female students take maths and related subjects than male students? This became a highly controversial political issue in England in April 2022. The Chair of the Social Mobility Commission, Katharine Birbalsingh, speaking to a Parliamentary committee gave her opinion why fewer girls took physics A-level: “they don’t like it, there’s a lot of hard maths in there that I think they would rather not do”. A couple of months later, the holder of another high profile role, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, countered with the view that a more likely explanation was the lack of female role models in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).

more at: https://economics.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2022/10/19/why-dont-more-girls-do-science/