The impact of penalties for wrong answers on the gender gap in test scores.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Coffman KB
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7183168 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The impact of penalties for wrong answers on the gender gap in test scores.
Coffman Katherine B KB Klinowski David D
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20200406 16
Multiple-choice examinations play a critical role in university admissions across the world. A key question is whether imposing penalties for wrong answers on these examinations deters guessing from women more than men, disadvantaging female test-takers. We consider data from a large-scale, high-stakes policy change that removed penalties for wrong answers on the national college entry examination in Chile. The policy change reduced a large gender gap in questions skipped. It also narrowed gende ...[more]
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