Gender Gap in Performance in Competitive Environments: Evidence from a Real Competition on Spelling

Abstract

This Master’s thesis examines the gender gap in performance in a real contest. The data from a contest for children on spelling and vocabulary in English, named National Spelling Bee, offers the opportunity to study the gender gap as competition advances. The contest offers a unique opportunity to study gender differences in a prominent contest on a language task where the contestants compete in multiple eliminatory rounds. Two main findings should be highlighted. In the six editions I study, I do not find evidence for girls and boys showing different likelihood for being among the semifinalists or among the winners. However, there is a gender difference in the dynamics along the multiple rounds in the contest. Boys show, relative to girls, better performance in later rounds compared to earlier rounds. There are also interesting heterogeneous effects regarding the age, school grade and ethnic origin.