How Schools Can Narrow the Gender and Genetic Gaps in Educational Achievement

How Schools Can Narrow the Gender and Genetic Gaps in Educational Achievement | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Social Sciences - Article How Schools Can Narrow the Gender and Genetic Gaps in Educational Achievement Sverre ofstad, Perline Demange, Qi Qin, Rosa Cheesman, Fartein Torvik, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8592276/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Boys have received lower average grades than girls for over a century, with likely implications for their future educational opportunities, mental health, and mortality. However, there are also considerable achievement differences within both gender groups, largely owing to individual differences in cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Identifying mechanisms within schools that shape educational gaps related to both gender and skills could reveal approaches to support all struggling students, regardless of gender. We computed polygenic indices for cognitive and non-cognitive skills for a sample of 36,800 Norwegian students across 1,068 lower secondary schools, leveraging genetic variation as an exogenous source of student skills through a within-family design. By interacting the polygenic indices with gender and a wide range of population-representative school environments, we find that some school environments provide additional benefits for students with lower non-cognitive predispositions. This compensatory support was especially pronounced for boys. Additionally, while both gender groups benefited from the same school environments, effects were generally larger for boys. Taken together, our results indicate that schools may reduce educational achievement differences within and across gender groups by reducing the influence of non-cognitive predispositions on achievement. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Education Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Biological sciences/Biological techniques/Behavioural methods gene-environment interaction GPA gender gap non-cognitive skills cognitive skills MoBa Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformation.docx Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8592276","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Social Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":601447320,"identity":"c0b7c7bb-fcde-4b4e-9861-88457e6ea559","order_by":0,"name":"Sverre 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However, there are also considerable achievement differences within both gender groups, largely owing to individual differences in cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Identifying mechanisms within schools that shape educational gaps related to both gender and skills could reveal approaches to support all struggling students, regardless of gender. We computed polygenic indices for cognitive and non-cognitive skills for a sample of 36,800 Norwegian students across 1,068 lower secondary schools, leveraging genetic variation as an exogenous source of student skills through a within-family design. By interacting the polygenic indices with gender and a wide range of population-representative school environments, we find that some school environments provide additional benefits for students with lower non-cognitive predispositions. This compensatory support was especially pronounced for boys. 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