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Application Fees and Gender Disparities in STEM Higher Education

Evelyn Xinhui Cheng & Ming Jiang

The Australian Economic Review2026https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70052article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

ABSTRACT Research Question/Issue Do college application fees contribute to gender disparities in higher education, particularly at STEM‐focused institutions in decentralised admissions systems? Research Findings/Insights Using U.S. data from 2001–2020, we find that a 1% increase in application fees is associated with a 1.77 percentage‐point decline in the female share of applicants at STEM‐focused institutions, with larger effects at public universities. No comparable effect is observed at non‐STEM institutions. Additional analysis indicates that application fees primarily alter the composition of applicants rather than overall application volumes, with male applications responding more strongly than female applications. Practitioner/Policy Implications Although application fees are typically viewed as administratively neutral, our results suggest they can disproportionately deter women from applying to STEM‐focused institutions. In decentralised systems common across the Asia‐Pacific region, reviewing fee structures or introducing targeted fee waivers may help promote greater gender equity in STEM participation. Methods Used We use institution‐level panel data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and estimate fixed‐effects models exploiting within‐institution variation in application fees.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70052

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@article{evelyn2026,
  title        = {{Application Fees and Gender Disparities in STEM Higher Education}},
  author       = {Evelyn Xinhui Cheng & Ming Jiang},
  journal      = {The Australian Economic Review},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8462.70052},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.