Interview - Gender Gaps in Different Assessment Systems
News | 14 March 2022 Interview - Gender Gaps in Different Assessment Systems

Ana Balcão Reis, from the Nova SBE Economics of Education Knowledge Center, interviewed on her paper with Catarina Angelo about gender gaps in different assessment systems.

Ana spoke about the results of several studies by the Economics of Education Knowledge Center on the topic, mentioning that, on average, the grades defined by teachers are higher and those from exams are lower for both boys and girls, with this drop being lower for the former than for the latter. This result remains for both male and female teachers, although the aforementioned drop is higher for students with male teachers, with this effect being lower for boys. However, given the available data, the mechanisms behind these differences are not clear, although it could be the case that they are due to the fact that these grades measure different things. More precisely, grades determined by teachers take into account everything that constitutes the assessment made throughout the whole academic year while exam grades only look at that particular moment. It is put forward the possibility that girls can be more consistent throughout the year, attaining a higher final grade, and that boys are better in stressful situations, although more study is needed on the matter to reach more meaningful conclusions.

You can read about these studies on Diário de Notícias and Sábado.

What's happening