Understanding the Impact of Gender and Migration Background on High-Ability Students' Behavior: Exploring Behavioral Differences in Business, Law, and Engineering Students Throughout Their Academic Careers.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Understanding the Impact of Gender and Migration Background on High-Ability Students' Behavior: Exploring Behavioral Differences in Business, Law, and Engineering Students Throughout Their Academic Careers.
Authors:	Beck-Werz, Lisa^1,2, Frick, Bernd¹, Fritz, Thomas², Lensing, Fabian^1,2
Source:	Journal of Higher Education Theory & Practice. 2025, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p193-212. 20p.
Subject Terms:	Gender, Law schools, Talented students, Business schools, *Engineering students, Human migration patterns
Abstract:	Using a large sample with detailed information on 32,296 high-ability business, law, and engineering students, we explore gender- and migration-related differences in behaviour to better understand the persistent under-representation of women and migrants in the executive suites of German companies. Since in this homogenous group of 'high-achievers', students are quite similar in their intellectual abilities, observable differences in behaviour can be mainly attributed to differences in gender- and migrationrelated preference patterns. We find that irrespective of migration background, men are more likely to pursue activities that increase their human capital, such as completing a doctorate. At the same time, women tend to engage in lower-level temporary jobs and complete their studies faster. In contrast, in this selective sample of high-ability students, migration background has a marginal effect on students' behaviour only. Perhaps most surprising, we find that the behaviour of women with a migration background - who potentially face 'double discrimination'- is not different from that of their male peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of Higher Education Theory & Practice is the property of North American Business Press Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Using a large sample with detailed information on 32,296 high-ability business, law, and engineering students, we explore gender- and migration-related differences in behaviour to better understand the persistent under-representation of women and migrants in the executive suites of German companies. Since in this homogenous group of 'high-achievers', students are quite similar in their intellectual abilities, observable differences in behaviour can be mainly attributed to differences in gender- and migrationrelated preference patterns. We find that irrespective of migration background, men are more likely to pursue activities that increase their human capital, such as completing a doctorate. At the same time, women tend to engage in lower-level temporary jobs and complete their studies faster. In contrast, in this selective sample of high-ability students, migration background has a marginal effect on students' behaviour only. Perhaps most surprising, we find that the behaviour of women with a migration background - who potentially face 'double discrimination'- is not different from that of their male peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	21583595
DOI:	10.33423/jhetp.v25i3.7795