Clearing the Hurdles: Women Building High-Growth Businesses

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of either male or female role models in textbooks or class examples. In

the classroom setting, the extent to which boys and girls are encour-

aged to participate in class discussions also has important conse-

quences. Boys generally receive more consistent responses to their

work, such as praise and encouragement, yet they break the rules, and

interrupt more often even if they don’t know the answer. On the other

hand, girls receive less praise and might be less likely to raise their

hands unless they know the answer. The encouragement or lack of

encouragement can be a subtle barrier for young girls in pursuing

math- or science-related topics.

The extent to which girls are encouraged to study math, ...