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The Impact of Classroom Gender Composition on Mental Health of Adolescents: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Lundström, Gustav LU and Morgado Azevedo, Hugo LU (2023) NEKP01 20231
Department of Economics
Abstract (Swedish)
This essay investigates the impact of classroom gender composition on the mental health of adolescent students. Using data from the Health Behaviours of School-aged Children survey in the Czech Republic, we exploit idiosyncratic classroom variation in the gender composition within the same schools across different grades. We find that a higher proportion of female peers in the classroom has a detrimental effect on male students’ mental health, whereas no comparable effects are observed among their female counterparts. Specifically, this effect is primarily driven by an increase in symptoms such as feeling low and nervous. Importantly, our study reveals non-linearity in the classroom gender composition effects, suggesting that a reduction... (More)
This essay investigates the impact of classroom gender composition on the mental health of adolescent students. Using data from the Health Behaviours of School-aged Children survey in the Czech Republic, we exploit idiosyncratic classroom variation in the gender composition within the same schools across different grades. We find that a higher proportion of female peers in the classroom has a detrimental effect on male students’ mental health, whereas no comparable effects are observed among their female counterparts. Specifically, this effect is primarily driven by an increase in symptoms such as feeling low and nervous. Importantly, our study reveals non-linearity in the classroom gender composition effects, suggesting that a reduction of the number of girls in the classroom may not always be advantageous for boys, as its effectiveness depends on the initial gender composition. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lundström, Gustav LU and Morgado Azevedo, Hugo LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKP01 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Education, Gender, Peer effects, Mental health, Fixed effects
language
English
id
9131801
date added to LUP
2023-09-04 09:08:29
date last changed
2023-09-04 09:08:29
@misc{9131801,
  abstract     = {{This essay investigates the impact of classroom gender composition on the mental health of adolescent students. Using data from the Health Behaviours of School-aged Children survey in the Czech Republic, we exploit idiosyncratic classroom variation in the gender composition within the same schools across different grades. We find that a higher proportion of female peers in the classroom has a detrimental effect on male students’ mental health, whereas no comparable effects are observed among their female counterparts. Specifically, this effect is primarily driven by an increase in symptoms such as feeling low and nervous. Importantly, our study reveals non-linearity in the classroom gender composition effects, suggesting that a reduction of the number of girls in the classroom may not always be advantageous for boys, as its effectiveness depends on the initial gender composition.}},
  author       = {{Lundström, Gustav and Morgado Azevedo, Hugo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Impact of Classroom Gender Composition on Mental Health of Adolescents: Evidence from the Czech Republic}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}