Does Gender Gap in Confidence Explain Gender Gap in Academic Achievement?

Decades of inequality generated a lack of self-esteem in women in several aspects of life. The gender gap in confidence is an intrinsic societal issue that has its roots in early childhood. As girls grow into women, they face stereotyping and a general belief that they are less capable, which may later transform into a central belief in women's understanding and judgment of themselves and thus translate into lower self-evaluation in different areas of competencies. In particular, in academia, women have proven to lag behind men in academic development and achievement. They are less likely to accept mentor positions, specifically if the mentee is a male peer. This study is dedicated to analyzing a network of mentors and mentees at the faculty level of higher education and their academic achievements as a result of the established mentor-mentee interactions. The participants self-evaluate themselves in different competency areas ranging from English level to analytical abilities and academic achievement. The present work concentrates on the level of confidence between the genders within the network of mentors and mentees. We compare the perceived competency levels in both genders with respect to their roles and their academic achievements to find out if gender gap in confidence translates into gender gap in academic achievement.