Workshop on Human Potential (Julie Berry Cullen, UCSD)

Julie Berry Cullen, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, San Diego, will present, "Coming of Age: Timing of Adolescence and Gender Identity Formation."

Abstract: In this paper we show that the timing of adolescence matters for gender identity formation. Women who reach puberty early are more likely to associate themselves with traits that would be considered feminine stereotypes. Association with gender identity is important for educational and labor market choices. Women who develop early are less likely to major in science or engineering and overall less likely to work in a science or technological field.

Bio: Julie Cullen is a public finance economist whose primary research interests are the economics of education, intergovernmental relations, and social insurance programs. Cullen is currently an associate professor at UC San Diego. She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997, was a member of the faculty at the University of Michigan until 2004, and served as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar from 1999-2001. She has authored several papers investigating the impact of school finance and school choice policies on special education, general education, and other local government programs. Other collaborative work analyzes issues in the design of child and adult disability programs and federal and state tax systems. Her research has been published in leading journals, such as Econometrica, Journal of Public Economics, and Review of Economics and Statistics. She is currently a coeditor at the Journal of Human Resources and serves on several editorial boards.

The Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential is one of the core intellectual activities of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy. It is an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students, post docs, and faculty whose work concerns behavior, health, and well-being across the lifespan and the ways in which technology and public policy shape human potential and achievement. The Workshop/Working group has active members in the areas of the social, behavioral, health, and policy sciences.

The Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential alternates between two types of sessions. Not only do we regularly invite outside speakers for a traditional "workshop" presentation, but we also provide a forum for faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students to present research-in-progress in order to receive critical and constructive feedback.