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Faculty Gender in the College Classroom: Does It Matter for Achievement and Major Choice?

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  • Amanda L. Griffith

Abstract

Many feel that faculty members of the same gender may serve as role models, helping students to perform better in classes and encouraging them to continue in a subject. However, while higher education research has found evidence of positive effects of matching on gender, there are also many findings of zero impact. The main hurdle in this literature is identifying the exogenous impact in the absence of student sorting by gender. This article addresses this difficulty by using institutional data from a private liberal arts institution to examine outcomes for students in courses taught by new faculty members for which the students would not know the gender before registering. Results provide evidence of a role model effect for both genders; students earn higher grades in courses taught by same‐gender instructors in fields traditionally dominated by the opposite gender. Major choice and course‐taking behavior are mostly unaffected by faculty gender.

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  • Amanda L. Griffith, 2014. "Faculty Gender in the College Classroom: Does It Matter for Achievement and Major Choice?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(1), pages 211-231, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:81:y:2014:i:1:p:211-231
    DOI: 10.4284/0038-4038-2012.100
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Scott E. Carrell & Marianne E. Page & James E. West, 2010. "Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1101-1144.
    2. Antecol, Heather & Eren, Ozkan & Ozbeklik, Serkan, 2012. "The Effect of Teacher Gender on Student Achievement in Primary School: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 6453, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    5. Florian Hoffmann & Philip Oreopoulos, 2009. "A Professor Like Me: The Influence of Instructor Gender on College Achievement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(2).
    6. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Daniel D. Goldhaber & Dominic J. Brewer, 1995. "Do Teachers' Race, Gender, and Ethnicity Matter? Evidence from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(3), pages 547-561, April.
    7. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2005. "Do Faculty Serve as Role Models? The Impact of Instructor Gender on Female Students," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 152-157, May.
    8. Kevin N. Rask & Elizabeth M. Bailey, 2002. "Are Faculty Role Models? Evidence from Major Choice in an Undergraduate Institution," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 99-124, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Card & Ciprian Domnisoru & Seth G. Sanders & Lowell Taylor & Victoria Udalova, 2022. "The Impact of Female Teachers on Female Students' Lifetime Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 30430, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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