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Vortragende Person/Vortragende Personen:
Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash University)

Titel: Same-Gender Peer Role Models in Education

Some individuals are pivotal in our lives. Recent research has shown that role models external to one’s peer group can impact decisions and performance. In this paper, we examine whether exemplary same-group peers can also act as role models for other peer group members. We exploit a setting in which students are quasi-randomly assigned to top-performing students, who are deemed by their teachers to be worthy of imitation. These internal role models receive daily recognition in their classes for several months. We use novel administrative and primary data collected from a large number of high schools in Greece. We study the impact of being assigned to a same-gender (compared with an opposite-gender) peer role model on students’ short- and long-term scholastic outcomes and STEM specialization choices. Females randomly assigned to a same-gender peer role model improved their subsequent test scores in mathematics by 2% of a standard deviation, were 3 percentage points more likely to choose a STEM track 1 year later, and to apply for and enroll in a STEM university degree 3 years later. The effects were more pronounced for females in low-income neighborhoods. In contrast, top performers’ gender seemed to be irrelevant for males. In online and in-class surveys, current students were randomly exposed to top-performers with different profiles. The profiles varied by gender and subject area in which they excelled (STEM or non-STEM). Consistent with our findings from the administrative data, we show that females’ perceptions of their academic performance and choices are positively affected when exposed to same-gender peer role models. The self-reported mechanism is higher self-confidence and a feeling of empowerment. The effects are larger when the peer role model excels in STEM subjects. Our findings suggest that same-gender peer role models can reduce the under-representation of qualified females in STEM fields by about 6%-9%. 

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