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The role of the teaching assistant: Female role models in the classroom

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  • Griffith, Amanda L.
  • Main, Joyce B.

Abstract

We use a dataset of first-year engineering students from a selective research-intensive public university to examine the impact of same-gender teaching assistants on course grades and major field choice. Our sample consists of students who were randomly assigned to a section of an introductory engineering course and a graduate teaching assistant. Results suggest there may be small positive effects on course grades and the probability of majoring in a high-earning field for female students assigned to a female teaching assistant. Although the difference is marginally significant, the impact of a teaching assistant gender match for female students’ choice of a high-earning field is more pronounced in classrooms with a female instructor and above-median representation of female peers. Our results show limited evidence that female teaching assistants can provide the same benefits of a female instructor in STEM fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Griffith, Amanda L. & Main, Joyce B., 2021. "The role of the teaching assistant: Female role models in the classroom," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:85:y:2021:i:c:s0272775721000972
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102179
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lisa Sofie Höckel, 2024. "Language lesson learned—foreign-origin teachers and their effect on students’ language skills," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-32, June.
    3. Elaine Kelly & Isabel Stockton, 2024. "A senior doctor like me: Gender match and occupational choice," IFS Working Papers W24/11, Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    role models; STEM Persistence; engineering;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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