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Are economics students biased against female teachers? Evidence from a randomized, double-blind natural field experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Andersson, Ola
  • Backman, Malin
  • Bengtsson, Niklas
  • Engström, Per

Abstract

Student evaluations of teaching tend to be biased against female teachers. Such biases has previously been shown to thrive in anonymous, online settings, such as internet forums. We designed a randomized, double-blind experiment in a natural educational setting to study gender biases in teaching evaluations. In the early post-Covid period, we randomly assigned a male or female name to the instructions given by the online teachers. Importantly, the teachers actually responding to the questions did not know whether they interacted with the students as male or female, which is a novel contribution to the literature. The course evaluation asked students to rate the mentors’ helpfulness, knowledge, and response time. The results show no bias against the female mentor in any single dimension. Our confidence interval around the zero effect does not overlap the effect sizes reported in highly influential previous studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersson, Ola & Backman, Malin & Bengtsson, Niklas & Engström, Per, 2025. "Are economics students biased against female teachers? Evidence from a randomized, double-blind natural field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:238:y:2025:i:c:s0167268125002720
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.107153
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    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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