Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Attitudes: Evidence from India

Abstract

This paper examines the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes in India, a setting where discrimination against women and girls is severe. We use survey data on gender attitudes (specifically, views about the appropriate roles and rights of women and girls) collected from adolescents attending 314 schools in the state of Haryana, and their parents. We find that when a parent holds a more discriminatory attitude, his or her child is about 15 to 20 percentage points more likely to hold the view. As a benchmark, classmates' average gender attitudes have a similar effect size. We find that mothers influence children's gender attitudes more than fathers do. Parental attitudes also affect their children's aspirations; girls with more discriminatory parents are less likely to want to continue their schooling beyond high school.

The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries

“…Changing men's attitudes might be equally important. On the one hand, mothers' gender attitudes appear to be more influential than those of fathers in shaping children's gender views (Dhar et al, 2014). On the other hand, fathers typically have more say in the household about decisions affecting girls, such as how much to spend on their education.…”

Absence of Altruism? Female Disadvantage in Private School Enrollment in India

“…How does one address the issue of gender bias against girls? Household preferences are often deeply held convictions and difficult to change in the short run (see, for example, Dhar, et al (2014). Our results highlight the fact that education for all cannot be secured by ignoring the rapidly growing proportion (about 31% in 2012) of children attending private schools.…”

Gender Gaps in Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills: Roles of SES and Gender Attitudes

“…These measures were based on the Young Lives Survey, with some modifications. We also measured children's gender attitudes, similar to Dhar et al (2019) and Edmonds et al (2019). A unique aspect of our survey is that we collected data on children's performance on test scores and gender attitudes through household surveys and not school-based surveys.…”