Gender gap in university admission test in Chile: What is happening at the top and bottom of the test score distribution? Brechas de género en los resultados de pruebas de selección universitaria en Chile. ¿Qué sucede en los extremos superior e inferior d

Abstract

Transition to tertiary education is a key step for students, which usually involves the application of admission tests. In general, when contrasting different groups of people —mainly based on socio-economic variables—, analyzes of this type of evidence are mostly concentrated on averages test scores, where few studies incorporate a gender perspective. In this sense, this study focuses on the Chilean context, and concentrates the analysis in the upper tail of the scores —where the actual university admission is occurring—, and lower —where potential lack of learning opportunities is exposed— of the University Selection Test (PSU). At the same time, gender gaps are compared for the 2014-2018 period in the mentioned top and bottom zones of the distribution of test scores. Results indicate that there are persistent gaps that limit the possibilities for women to pursue university careers in areas related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Therefore, it is important that both public and university policies consider affirmative and complementary actions that may address these issues, considering the ongoing higher education reform and possible changes into the Chilean university admission system.