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My Professor Cares: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Faculty Engagement

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  • Scott E. Carrell
  • Michal Kurlaender

Abstract

We provide experimental evidence on the impact of specific faculty behaviors aimed at increasing student success for college students from historically underrepresented groups. The intervention was developed after conducting in-person focus groups and a pilot experiment. We find significant positive treatment effects across a multitude of short- and longer-run outcomes. Specifically, underrepresented students in the treatment report more positive perceptions of the professor and earned higher course grades. These positive effects persisted over the next several years, with students in the treatment more likely to persist in college, resulting in increased credit accumulation and degree completion.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott E. Carrell & Michal Kurlaender, 2023. "My Professor Cares: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Faculty Engagement," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 113-141, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:113-41
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210699
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    1. Braga, Michela & Paccagnella, Marco & Pellizzari, Michele, 2014. "Evaluating students’ evaluations of professors," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 71-88.
    2. Christopher Avery & Thomas J. Kane, 2004. "Student Perceptions of College Opportunities. The Boston COACH Program," NBER Chapters, in: College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay For It, pages 355-394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & Liang Zhang, 2005. "Do Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    4. 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.
    5. Joshua Angrist & Philip Oreopoulos & Tyler Williams, 2014. "When Opportunity Knocks, Who Answers?: New Evidence on College Achievement Awards," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 572-610.
    6. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2010. "Does Cheaper Mean Better? The Impact of Using Adjunct Instructors on Student Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(3), pages 598-613, August.
    7. Scott E. Carrell & James E. West, 2010. "Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 409-432, June.
    8. Scott Carrell & Bruce Sacerdote, 2017. "Why Do College-Going Interventions Work?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 124-151, July.
    9. Beleche, Trinidad & Fairris, David & Marks, Mindy, 2012. "Do course evaluations truly reflect student learning? Evidence from an objectively graded post-test," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 709-719.
    10. Deven E. Carlson & Felix Elwert & Nicholas Hillman & Alex Schmidt & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2019. "The Effects of Financial Aid Grant Offers on Postsecondary Educational Outcomes: New Experimental Evidence from the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars," NBER Working Papers 26419, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Todd Pugatch & Nicholas Wilson, 2024. "Nudging Demand for Academic Support Services: Experimental and Structural Evidence from Higher Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(5), pages 1637-1682.
    2. Moritz Mendel, 2024. "Nonstandard Educational Careers and Inequality," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_592, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

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