Replication Data for: Same-Sex Schooling, Political Participation, and Gender Attitudes? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea

Abstract: Across countries, a gender gap exists with respect to attitudes toward leadership and political participation, with women scoring lower than men on measures of these outcomes. This gap emerges early in life and could be influenced by gender norms learned through socialization, in the family or at school. Using a natural experiment in high school assignment in South Korea, we examine whether an all-female school environment can contribute to narrowing the gender gap by increasing women's civic and political participation and fostering their ambition for leadership. We find that female graduates of single-sex schools are more engaged in politics and society and more likely to pursue leadership positions compared to women who graduated from coeducational schools. These effects are durable, lasting for years, even decades. However, single-sex schools do not cultivate more progressive gender attitudes among women, so increased female participation need not imply greater activism for gender equality.

摘要：各国在领导力态度与政治参与领域均存在性别差距，女性在相关衡量指标上的得分均低于男性。该差距在人生早期便已显现，可能受到家庭或学校社会化过程中习得的性别规范影响。本研究依托韩国高中分配的自然实验，探究全女子学校环境能否通过提升女性的公民与政治参与度、培养其领导力抱负，助力缩小性别差距。研究发现，与男女同校的女性毕业生相比，单性别女子学校的女毕业生更积极投身政治与社会事务，也更有可能追求领导力岗位。此类影响具有持久性，可延续数年乃至数十年。不过，单性别学校并未培养出女性更进步的性别观念，因此女性参与度的提升并不必然意味着性别平等维权行动的增强。