Job market paper
“Policy Evaluation of Gender Affirmative Action in Engineering Schools”
Valentina Contreras
Abstract: This paper evaluates the impact of two separate but contemporaneous efforts to increase female participation in engineering schools by two leading universities in Chile (Universidad de Chile and PUC-Chile). I use a difference-in-difference approach to estimate the effectiveness of the policies and a peer effects model to explore further consequences of the reform on students’ academic performance and drop-out rates. The paper finds that (i) both policies were successful in increasing women’s enrollment and attendance at their engineering courses; (ii) they did not change the average academic ability of accepted students (as measured by their average composite application scores); (iii) The UCH policy led to lower first-year drop-out rates among women; improved performance in collaborative projects by both men and women and had no significant effect on other first-year educational outcomes.
Under revision and work in progress:
“The Role of Admission Criteria in Reducing Gender Imbalances in Higher Education”
Valentina Contreras
Is ‘Employment during Motherhood’ a ‘Value Changing Experience’?
with Mireia Borrell and Joan Costa-Font. Revise & resubmit, Advances in Life Course Research
with Johann Koehler, Chiara Orsini, Berkay Ozcan
Valentina Contreras 