Can Positive Feedback Encourage Female and Minority Undergraduates into Economics?

Kelly Bedard, Jacqueline Dodd and Shelly Lundberg

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2021, vol. 111, 128-32

Abstract: In a field experiment designed to encourage undergraduate women and underrepresented minority students to study economics, we send personalized letters to students completing introductory economics classes inviting them to an informational meeting. A random sample of high-achieving students receives letters that also praise their performance and encourage them to persist in economics. Receiving this "nudge" increases the probability of informational meeting attendance and increases the number of women entering the economics and accounting major and of men entering the economics major. There is a substantial increase in the number of treated Hispanic students, particularly women, who choose economics and accounting.

JEL-codes: A14 A22 J15 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211025

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