Peer Gender Composition and Non-Cognitive Factors

This note studies the relationship between the gender composition of a student’s peers and two of their non-cognitive factors: sense of belonging and self-worth. Using data from Add Health and exploiting idiosyncratic variation in the share of female peers across grades within schools, I find positive but small effects of a higher share of female peers for male students. I do not find statistically significant effects for female students, but I can rule out large positive effects.

Recommended citation: Orr, Cody. (2023). "Peer Gender Composition and Non-Cognitive Factors." Applied Economics Letters. 30(4). 441-444. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2021.1991560