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The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Effort, Course Selection, and Major Choice: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis

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  • Joyce B. Main
  • Ben Ost

Abstract

The authors apply a regression-discontinuity design to identify the causal impact of letter grades on student effort within a course, subsequent credit hours taken, and the probability of majoring in economics. Their methodology addresses key issues in identifying the causal impact of letter grades: correlation with unobservable factors, such as motivation, and direction of causation. They find no evidence that letter grades influence undergraduate students' course-taking behavior or decision to major in economics. They find that, within a course, the first exam letter grade can affect student performance on the second exam.

Suggested Citation

  • Joyce B. Main & Ben Ost, 2014. "The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Effort, Course Selection, and Major Choice: A Regression-Discontinuity Analysis," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(1), pages 1-10, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jeduce:v:45:y:2014:i:1:p:1-10
    DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2014.859953
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    Cited by:

    1. Luc Bridet & Margaret Leighton, 2015. "The Major Decision: Labor Market Implications of the Timing of Specialization in College," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201510, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    2. Halim,Daniel Zefanya & Powers,Elizabeth T. & Thornton,Rebecca Lynn, 2021. "Gender Differences in Economics Course-Taking and Majoring : Findings from an RCT," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9732, The World Bank.
    3. Shulamit Kahn & Donna Ginther, 2017. "Women and STEM," NBER Working Papers 23525, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Haggag, Kareem & Patterson, Richard W. & Pope, Nolan G. & Feudo, Aaron, 2021. "Attribution bias in major decisions: Evidence from the United States Military Academy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    5. Hadsell, Lester, 2020. "Not for want of trying: Effort and Success of women in principles of microeconomics," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    6. Li, Hsueh-Hsiang, 2018. "Do mentoring, information, and nudge reduce the gender gap in economics majors?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 165-183.
    7. Lauren Ratliff Santoro & Jonas B. Bunte, 2023. "What Did You Get? Peers, Information, and Student Exam Performance," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(3), pages 423-450, May.
    8. Griffith, Amanda L. & Main, Joyce B., 2019. "First impressions in the classroom: How do class characteristics affect student grades and majors?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 125-137.
    9. Dirk S. Yandell, 2017. "Grade Expectations and Overconfidence: Is Economics Different?," Journal for Economic Educators, Middle Tennessee State University, Business and Economic Research Center, vol. 17(2), pages 18-28, Fall.
    10. Kugler, Adriana D. & Tinsley, Catherine H. & Ukhaneva, Olga, 2021. "Choice of majors: are women really different from men?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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