Exploring factors affecting gender gap in university student performance

In recent years, exploring the determinants that can influence student achievement in higher education has received much attention. Empirical studies have found that the most important factors a!ecting student performance are sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes, family context, high school grades, social interactions among peers, and geographical areas. This contribution investigates university students’ performances, aiming to capture the presence of the gender gap. University performance is measured by the number of ECTS credits students earn during the first year, representing an essential stage of their career path. Starting from a cohort of students enrolled in degree programs o!ered by an Italian university, the primary purposes are to estimate the probability of getting at least a certain number of credits at the end of the first year as well as to capture if there are any di!erences in performance between male and female also investigating the factors a!ecting these results. Secondary data obtained from the Italian National Student Archive are used to estimate statistical models that catch the e!ect of contextual and individual factors on student performance.