Gender Composition and University Climate

Abstract

The university climate is an essential factor for students’ outcomes and future trajectories. Traditional masculinity traits can create barriers to success, especially for women in male-dominated fields. This paper leverages the random allocation of students into classes within the same course at an ´elite university to examine how the gender composition of peers affects students’ gender attitudes, beliefs, anxiety, academic performance, and confidence. Our findings reveal that greater exposure to female peers reduces classroom conformity to masculinity norms and anxiety while improving confidence and exam performance.