Do School Counselors Exhibit Bias in Recommending Students for Advanced Coursework?

Francis Dania V. (), Angela de Oliveira and Dimmitt Carey ()
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Francis Dania V.: Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 203 Crotty Hall, 412 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
Dimmitt Carey: Department of Student Development, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2019, vol. 19, issue 4, 17

Abstract: In this paper, we seek to understand minority and female underrepresentation in advanced STEM courses in high school by investigating whether school counselors exhibit racial or gender bias during the course assignment process. Using an adapted audit study, we asked a sample of school counselors to evaluate student transcripts that were identical except for the names on the transcripts, which were varied randomly to suggestively represent a chosen race and gender combination. Our results indicate that black female students were less likely to be recommended for AP Calculus and were rated as being the least prepared. Our results have policy implications for any program that asks individuals to make recommendations that may be subject to bias – whether conscious or unconscious.

Keywords: human capital; STEM participation; race; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D90 I24 J15 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2018-0189

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