Research shows that men are more likely to take risks than women, but there is scant evidence that this produces gender inequality. To address this gap, I analyzed engineering exam scores that used an unusual grading procedure. I found small average gender differences in risk-taking that did not produce gendered outcomes for students of average or poor ability. But the gender gap in risk-taking among the most competent students reduced the odds that high-ability women received top exam scores. These results demonstrate that gender differences in risk-taking can produce gender inequality in outcomes among top performers. This suggests that the upward mobility of high-ability women may be depressed relative to equally competent men in male-typed institutional settings in which outcomes are influenced by both ability and risk-taking. In this manner, these results provide new insights into the microlevel social-psychological processes that produce and reproduce gender inequality.

中文翻译：

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谁在榜首？：承担风险的性别差异会给高能力的男女带来不平等的结果

研究表明，男人比女人更有可能冒险，但是很少有证据表明这会导致性别不平等。为了弥补这一差距，我分析了使用不寻常的评分程序的工程考试成绩。我发现冒险中的平均性别差异很小，对于中等或能力较弱的学生而言，这不会产生性别差异。但是，能力最强的学生在冒险方面的性别差距降低了高能力女性获得最高考试成绩的几率。这些结果表明，冒险行为中的性别差异可能会导致绩效最高者之间的性别不平等。这表明，在男性型机构环境中，能力强的女性的向上流动性相对于能力相称的男性可能会受到抑制，在这种情况下，结果受能力和冒险精神的影响。以这种方式，