AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Confidence Men? Evidence on Confidence and Gender among Top Economists
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111,
May 2021
(pp. 65–68)
Abstract
Using data from economists working in top US universities, we find that women are less confident than men along three margins. When asked about their level of agreement on survey questions about the economy, women are less likely to provide a judgment than their male counterparts. Conditional on providing a judgment, women are less likely to give "extreme" answers in which they strongly agree or disagree. Women are also less confident in the accuracy of their answer. We show that the confidence gap is driven by women being less confident when asked questions outside their field of expertise.Citation
Sarsons, Heather, and Guo Xu. 2021. "Confidence Men? Evidence on Confidence and Gender among Top Economists." AEA Papers and Proceedings 111: 65–68. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211086Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- A14 Sociology of Economics
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination