IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usg/econwp/201336.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

No disabled student left behind? - Evidence from a social field experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Deuchert, Eva
  • Kauer, Lukas
  • Liebert, Helge
  • Wuppermann, Carl

Abstract

We conduct a field experiment to study if student counseling offices discriminate against disabled students based on their impairment. The offices receive randomized emails from fictitious high-school graduates, requesting information on the admission process and special accommodations to ease studying. Responses are evaluated using content analysis, allowing us to examine different theoretical mechanisms how discriminative behaviour can emerge. Results show that students with depression or dyslexia are discriminated against compared to students with physical impairments. We find no evidence for taste-based or statistical discrimination. Instead, results indicate that general information deficits about health conditions exist, leading to non-purposeful discrimination. Psychological and learning impairments are not recognized as disabilities and counselors are unaware of the limitations they entail. If discrimination translates into lower access to higher education and a lower probability to graduate, disadvantages for disabled individuals on the labor market are reinforced.

Suggested Citation

  • Deuchert, Eva & Kauer, Lukas & Liebert, Helge & Wuppermann, Carl, 2013. "No disabled student left behind? - Evidence from a social field experiment," Economics Working Paper Series 1336, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2013:36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ux-tauri.unisg.ch/RePEc/usg/econwp/EWP-1336.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michele Battisti & Jane Friesen & Ross Hickey, 2012. "How Student Disability Classifications and Learning Outcomes Respond to Special Education Funding Rules: Evidence from British Columbia," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 38(2), pages 147-166, June.
    2. Dean, David H. & Dolan, Robert C., 1992. "Efficacy of higher education for persons with work disabilities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 51-60, March.
    3. Jane Friesen & Ross Hickey & Brian Krauth, 2010. "Disabled Peers and Academic Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 5(3), pages 317-348, July.
    4. Arie Kapteyn & James P. Smith & Arthur van Soest, 2007. "Vignettes and Self-Reports of Work Disability in the United States and the Netherlands," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(1), pages 461-473, March.
    5. Jacquemet, Nicolas & Yannelis, Constantine, 2012. "Indiscriminate discrimination: A correspondence test for ethnic homophily in the Chicago labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 824-832.
    6. Peter Riach & Judith Rich, 2004. "Fishing for Discrimination," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(4), pages 465-486.
    7. Sally Kwak, 2010. "The Impact of Intergovernmental Incentives on Student Disability Rates," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(1), pages 41-73, January.
    8. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 2002. "Inferring Program Effects for Special Populations: Does Special Education Raise Achievement for Students with Disabilities?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(4), pages 584-599, November.
    9. Heckman, James J. & Moon, Seong Hyeok & Pinto, Rodrigo & Savelyev, Peter A. & Yavitz, Adam, 2010. "The rate of return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 114-128, February.
    10. Keslair, Francois & Maurin, Eric & McNally, Sandra, 2012. "Every child matters? An evaluation of “Special Educational Needs” programmes in England," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 932-948.
    11. Ravaud, Jean-François & Madiot, Béatrice & Ville, Isabelle, 1992. "Discrimination towards disabled people seeking employment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 951-958, October.
    12. Jason M. Fletcher, 2009. "The Effects of Inclusion on Classmates of Students with Special Needs: The Case of Serious Emotional Problems," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 4(3), pages 278-299, July.
    13. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00813249 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Jon Marius Vaag Iversen & Hans Bonesrønning & Ivar Pettersen, 2013. "Are Non-Eligible Students Affected by Special Education?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4156, CESifo.
    15. Kevin Hollenbeck & Jean Kimmel, 2008. "Differences in the Returns to Education for Males by Disability Status and Age of Disability Onset," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(3), pages 707-724, January.
    16. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    17. repec:mpr:mprres:6968 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Cain Polidano & Kostas Mavromaras, 2011. "Participation in and Completion of Vocational Education and Training for People with a Disability," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 44(2), pages 137-152, June.
    19. Rodney J. Andrews & Paul Jargowsky & Kristin Kuhne, 2012. "The Effects of Texas's Targeted Pre-Kindergarten Program on Academic Performance," NBER Working Papers 18598, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Christine Jolls, 2004. "Identifying the Effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act Using State-Law Variation: Preliminary Evidence on Educational Participation Effects," NBER Working Papers 10528, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Christine Jolls, 2004. "Identifying the Effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act Using State-Law Variation: Preliminary Evidence on Educational Participation Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 447-453, May.
    22. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00745109 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-661, September.
    24. Cheatham, Gregory A. & Elliott, William, 2013. "The effects of family college savings on postsecondary school enrollment rates of students with disabilities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 95-111.
    25. Elizabeth Dhuey & Stephen Lipscomb, 2011. "Funding Special Education by Capitation: Evidence from State Finance Reforms," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(2), pages 168-201, April.
    26. Philip Oreopoulos, 2011. "Why Do Skilled Immigrants Struggle in the Labor Market? A Field Experiment with Thirteen Thousand Resumes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 148-171, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eva Deuchert & Lukas Kauer & Helge Liebert & Carl Wuppermann, 2017. "Disability discrimination in higher education: analyzing the quality of counseling services," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 543-553, November.
    2. Weichselbaumer, Doris, 2015. "Discrimination against Migrants in Austria: An Experimental Study," IZA Discussion Papers 9354, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Anthony Edo & Nicolas Jacquemet & Constantine Yannelis, 2019. "Language skills and homophilous hiring discrimination: Evidence from gender and racially differentiated applications," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 349-376, March.
    4. Sallin, Aurelién, 2021. "Estimating returns to special education: combining machine learning and text analysis to address confounding," Economics Working Paper Series 2109, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    5. Button, Patrick & Walker, Brigham, 2020. "Employment discrimination against Indigenous Peoples in the United States: Evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Yannick L'Horty & Mathieu Bunel & Pascale Petit, 2019. "Testing for redlining in the labour market," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 153-173, April.
    8. Beatrix Eugster & Raphaël Parchet, 2011. "Culture and Taxes: Towards Identifying Tax Competition," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 11.05, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    9. Aur'elien Sallin, 2021. "Estimating returns to special education: combining machine learning and text analysis to address confounding," Papers 2110.08807, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2022.
    10. Doris Weichselbaumer, 2017. "Discrimination Against Migrant Job Applicants in Austria: An Experimental Study," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 18(2), pages 237-265, May.
    11. Matthieu Manant & Serge Pajak & Nicolas Soulié, 2019. "Can social media lead to labor market discrimination? Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 225-246, April.
    12. Van Borm, Hannah & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "Diving in the minds of recruiters: What triggers gender stereotypes in hiring?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1083, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Zschirnt, Eva & Ruedin, Didier, 2016. "Ethnic discrimination in hiring decisions: A meta-analysis of correspondence tests 1990–2015," EconStor Preprints 142176, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Dhuey, Elizabeth & Lipscomb, Stephen, 2010. "Disabled or young? Relative age and special education diagnoses in schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 857-872, October.
    15. Rangvid, Beatrice Schindler, 2019. "Returning special education students to regular classrooms: Externalities on peers’ reading scores," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 13-22.
    16. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Contreras, Dante & Brante, Miguel & Espinoza, Sebastian & Zuñiga, Isabel, 2020. "The effect of the integration of students with special educational needs: Evidence from Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. Van Borm, Hannah & Lippens, Louis & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "An Arab, an Asian, and a Black Guy Walk into a Job Interview: Ethnic Stigma in Hiring after Controlling for Social Class," IZA Discussion Papers 15707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Koopmans, Ruud & Veit, Susanne & Yemane, Ruta, 2019. "Taste or statistics? A correspondence study of ethnic, racial and religious labour market discrimination in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 42(16), pages 233-252.
    20. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Ooi, Evarn & Slonim, Robert, 2017. "Racial discrimination and white first name adoption: a field experiment in the Australian labour market," Working Papers 2017-15, University of Sydney, School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Higher education; disability; discrimination; field experiment; content analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2013:36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vwasgch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.