Friends in Childhood and the Gender Equality Paradox

Prior research has documented a counterintuitive pattern where countries with higher gender equality often show lower female representation in STEM fields. Using data from 500,000 children across 40 countries, we find that this "gender equality paradox" is already present in friendship patterns by age 11. Children in more gender-equal and wealthy nations form fewer cross-gender friendships and report greater difficulty in cross-gender communication. Furthermore, children with fewer opposite-sex friends are more likely to pursue educational tracks dominated by their own gender. These findings suggest that the gender segregation observed in higher education within gender-equal countries may stem from social dynamics established during childhood, challenging assumptions about the relationship between societal gender equality and gender integration in various domains. Joint paper with Natalia Zinovyeva