Gender and choices in higher education

We examine the choices of undergraduate students at a French university who are competing for seats at foreign universities to fulfill a mandatory exchange program requirement. We find that average- and high-ability female students request universities that are worse-ranked than their male peers. A survey eliciting students’ preferences suggests that male students prioritize the academic characteristics of exchange universities, whereas similar female students consider both the academic and non-academic characteristics of exchange destinations. We explore the consequences of these differing preferences using a simulation that assigns students to exchange seats solely on university ranking and students’ academic performance.