Gender Differences in Reactions to Failure in High-Stakes Competition: Evidence from the National College Entrance Exam Retakes

Abstract

We document gender differences in reactions to failure in the National College Entrance Exam in China. Using administrative data from Ningxia province and a regression discontinuity design, we find that students who narrowly miss the tier-2 university cutoff exhibit an 8 percentage point increase in their likelihood of retaking the exam, and that retaking improves exam performance substantially. Notably, the response to this failure is much larger for men than for women. Survey evidence suggests that gender differences in psychological costs of retaking, parental education expectations, and some noncognitive traits can explain an important part of gender differences in retake willingness.