Working Paper: NBER ID: w23063
Authors: Joshua Goodman
Abstract: Despite great focus on and public investment in STEM education, little causal evidence connects quantitative coursework to students’ economic outcomes. I show that state changes in minimum high school math requirements substantially increase Black students’ completed math coursework and their later earnings. The marginal student’s return to an additional math course is 10 percent, roughly half the return to a year of high school, and is partly explained by a shift toward more cognitively skilled occupations. White students’ coursework and earnings are unaffected. Rigorous standards for quantitative coursework can close meaningful portions of racial gaps in economic outcomes.
Keywords: STEM education; math coursework; racial disparities; economic outcomes
JEL Codes: I24; I26; J24; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| State changes in minimum high school math requirements (C29) | Number of yearlong math courses completed by black high school graduates (C29) |
| Number of yearlong math courses completed by black high school graduates (C29) | Adult earnings of black high school graduates (J31) |
| State changes in minimum high school math requirements (C29) | Adult earnings of black high school graduates (J31) |
| State changes in minimum high school math requirements (C29) | Racial gaps in math coursework and earnings (I24) |