Same-Sex Classes Appear to Diminish Women’s Risk Aversion

February 20, 2014

Research Fact 
Same-Sex Classes Appear to Diminish Women’s Risk Aversion
Fact discovered 
Female economics and business students were 19% more likely to make risky choices in a financial experiment if they had spent the last eight weeks in single-sex, versus coed, classes, says a team led by Alison Booth of Australia National University. 
The experiment 
The experiment involved choosing between a safe option for receiving money and entering a lottery with an uncertain but potentially greater payout. 
Reason ?  
The results suggest that a part of women’s observed greater risk aversion (in comparison with men’s) might reflect social learning rather than inherent gender traits, the researchers say.

SOURCE: Gender differences in risk aversion: Do single-sex environments affect their development?