Can learning communities boost success of women and minorities in STEM? Evidence from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lauren Russell

Economics of Education Review, 2017, vol. 61, issue C, 98-111

Abstract: I study the impacts of a freshman learning community at MIT called the Experimental Study Group (ESG) which has features aligning with the National Academies’ recommendations for expanding the representation and success of women and minorities in STEM fields. I exploit the lottery-based admission system to estimate causal treatment effects. I find no statistically significant effects on academic outcomes for ESG enrollees generally, but women who participate in the program have higher GPAs and complete more credits of coursework. Minority students are more likely to major in math, computer science, or electrical engineering after participating in the program. Though quite noisy, the results are suggestive that women and minorities in STEM may benefit from learning communities.

Keywords: Educational economics; Human capital; Program evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:98-111

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.10.008

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