Working Paper: NBER ID: w17381
Authors: Robert W. Fairlie; Florian Hoffmann; Philip Oreopoulos
Abstract: Detailed administrative data from a large and diverse community college are used to examine if academic performance depends on whether students are the same race or ethnicity as their instructors. To identify racial interactions and address many threats to internal validity we estimate models that include both student and classroom fixed effects. Given the large sample sizes and computational complexity of the 2-way fixed effects model we rely on numerical algorithms that exploit the particular structure of the model's normal equations. Although we find no evidence of endogenous sorting, we further limit potential biases from sorting by focusing on students with restricted course enrollment options due to low registration priorities, students not getting first section choices, and on courses with no within-term or within-year racial variation in instructors. We find that the performance gap in terms of class dropout rates, pass rates, and grade performance between white and underrepresented minority students falls by 20-50 percent when taught by an underrepresented minority instructor. We also find these interactions affect longer term outcomes such as subsequent course selection, retention, and degree completion. Potential mechanisms for these positive interactions are examined.
Keywords: race; ethnicity; academic performance; community college; instructor interactions
JEL Codes: I20; I23; J24; J71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Instructor race (J15) | Performance gap between white and underrepresented minority students (I24) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Minority students' grades (I24) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Minority students' course drop rates (I21) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Minority students' pass rates (J15) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Subsequent course selection (Y80) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Retention (Y60) |
| Teaching by underrepresented minority instructor (A22) | Degree completion (Y40) |
| Minority instructors as role models (J15) | Minority student performance (I24) |