This study examines the gendered effects of early and sustained exposure to high-performing peers on female educational trajectories. Exploiting random allocation to classrooms within middle schools, we measure the effect of male and female high performers on girls’ high school placement outcomes. We examine the effects that peers have on two distinct outcomes: academic performance and preferences for schools with more-selective admission standards. We focus on the effects of peers along the distribution of baseline academic performance. Exposure to high-performing peers of either sex reduces the degree to which high-achieving girls seek placement in more-selective schools. High-achieving boys have particularly strong, negative effects on high-performing girls’ admission scores and preferences for more-selective and more-academic schools. By contrast, high-achieving girls improve low-performing girls’ placement outcomes, but exclusively through a positive effect on exam scores.

本研究考察了早期和持续接触高绩效同龄人对女性教育轨迹的性别影响。我们利用中学课堂的随机分配来衡量男性和女性表现优异者对女童高中安置结果的影响。我们研究了同龄人对两种不同结果的影响：学业成绩和对录取标准更具选择性的学校的偏好。我们关注同龄人对基线学业成绩分布的影响。接触任何性别的高绩效同龄人都会降低成绩优异的女孩寻求进入更具选择性的学校的程度。成绩优异的男孩对成绩优异的女孩的录取分数和对选择性更强、学术性更强的学校的偏好有特别强烈的负面影响。