Education

Paola Profeta, Giulia Savio and Silvia Griselda

The university climate is an essential factor that influences students' academic outcomes and career trajectories. Traditional masculinity norms, particularly prevalent in male-dominated fields, can pose substantial barriers to success, especially for female students. This paper first measures students' adherence to masculinity norms, their anxiety levels, and their confidence in their academic performance relative to peers. Second, we explore how these factors correlate with and predict academic performance and future career aspirations. Finally, leveraging the random assignment of students into different class groups within the same course at an elite university, we examine how peer gender composition influences students' masculinity norms, anxiety levels, academic confidence, and exam performance. Our findings demonstrate that increased exposure to female peers reduces adherence to traditional masculinity norms and anxiety, while enhancing students' confidence and academic outcomes.