Harvard economist\u00a0Sendhil Mullainathan writes: \u00a0It\u2019s 2014, and women are still paid less than men. \u00a0Yet academically, girls have not merely caught up with boys in performance: they have overtaken them.<\/p>\n
Boys actually underperform in school in the first place. The prime suspect for this underperformance is boys\u2019 shortage of what social scientists call noncognitive skills. They have trouble sitting still, focusing and exerting self-control.<\/p>\n
Employers demand these same noncognitive skills. Those that it takes to succeed in college \u2014 time management, writing ability, structuring tasks on your own, working in teams \u2014 are also needed in the modern workplace.<\/p>\n
There are two reasons to believe that the trend seen in schools may not translate to the workplace. First, some evidence points to other gender differences in psychology. \u00a0Men fare better in competitive environments, in part because they are more confident and men show less risk aversion.<\/p>\n
These differences \u2014 competitiveness, overconfidence and risk-seeking \u2014 could conceivably have greater benefits in the workplace, at least in some jobs, than they do in school.<\/p>\n
A second factor is that jobs and society are still structured for traditional gender roles. Family commitments and household responsibilities will not disappear.<\/p>\n