Resumen

RODRIGUEZ-GARCES, Carlos; ROMERO-GARRIDO, David  y  ESPINOSA-VALENZUELA, Denisse. School Performance, Entrance Exams, and Women Entering Engineering. Cuad. Investig. Educ. [online]. 2026, vol.17, n.1, e214.  Epub 01-Jun-2026. ISSN 1510-2432.  https://doi.org/10.18861/cied.2026.17.1.4372.

The massive admission of women to universities in recent decades is one of the most significant phenomena in Latin American education systems. However, this participation has been segmented by field of study, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, which have a significantly lower proportion of female students. Focusing specifically on Chile and the field of engineering, this article explores gender gaps in engineering admissions by analyzing enrollment, academic performance, and university entrance exam scores of 58,370 applicants to 490 university programs. Using statistical inference techniques, it shows that although women are improving their scores, their proportion of applications and enrollment remains significantly lower than that of men. Despite having better academic trajectories, they obtain lower scores on mathematics admission tests. Although these disparities persist even when controlling for academic performance levels, women can enter with higher weighted scores than men thanks to the university admission algorithm. Although mathematics performance is not a determining factor in choosing engineering, women's better academic performance would explain their superior academic trajectory.

Palabras clave : gender; academic performance; engineering; college admissions; STEM.

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