Gender differences in career choices and their consequences

By Glenda Quintini. One of the most striking findings when comparing the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) – which focuses on 16-65-year olds – to the PISA survey – which targets 15-year-old students – is the evolution of the gender gap in proficiency. In fact, in the PISA assessment, girls tend to outperform boys in reading, and are more likely to enrol in tertiary education. On the other hand, the Survey of Adult Skills shows generally small gender differences in literacy proficiency and more sizeable differences in numeracy, both to the advantage of men. More...