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on Education |
| By: | Holford, Angus J. (University of Essex); Sen, Sonkurt (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of racial representation among academic staff on university students’ academic and labor market outcomes. We use administrative data on the universe of staff and students at all UK universities, linked to survey data on students’ post-graduation outcomes, exploiting idiosyncratic variation (conditional on a set of fixed effects and observable student, staff, and university department level characteristics) in the proportion of racial minority academic staff to whom students are exposed. We find that minority representation benefits the academic outcomes of minority groups: When minority students are exposed to 1 SD higher proportion of minority academics, they are 1.03ppt more likely to graduate with a first or upper second class honors degree and they are also 0.88ppt more likely to graduate on time. There is no beneficial impact of minority or own-race representation on the labor market outcomes of minorities. However, we do find that minority representation among academic staff significantly increases progression of minority students to graduate study, suggesting that there may be benefits of same-race representation operating through provision of role models or domain-specific advice and guidance. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, representation, minorities, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | I23 I26 J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17944 |
| By: | Federico Echenique; Michael Olabisi |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a novel revealed-preference approach to ranking colleges and professional schools based on applicants' choices and standardized test scores. Unlike traditional rankings that rely on data supplied by institutions or expert opinions, our methodology leverages the decentralized beliefs of potential students, as revealed through their application decisions. We develop a theoretical model where students with higher test scores apply to more selective institutions, allowing us to establish a clear relationship between test score distributions and school prestige. Using comprehensive data from over 490, 000 GMAT test-takers applying to U.S. full-time MBA programs, we implement two ranking methods: one based on monotone functions of test scores across schools, and another using score-adjusted tournaments between school pairs. Our approach has distinct advantages over traditional rankings: it reflects the collective judgment of the entire applicant pool rather than a small group of experts, and it utilizes data from an independent testing organization, making it resistant to manipulation by institutions. The resulting rankings correlate strongly with leading published MBA rankings ($\rho = 0.72$) while offering the additional benefit of being customizable for different student subgroups. This method provides a transparent alternative to existing ranking systems that have been subject to well-documented manipulation. |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2505.21063 |
| By: | de Koning, Bart K. (Cornell University); Fouarge, Didier (ROA, Maastricht University); Dur, Robert (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We run a field experiment in which we provide information to students about job opportunities and hourly wages of occupations they are interested in. The experiment takes place within a widely-used career orientation program in the Netherlands, and involves 28, 186 pre-vocational secondary education students in 243 schools over two years. The information improves the accuracy of students' beliefs and leads them to change their preferred occupation to one with better labor market prospects. Administrative data that covers up to four years after the experiment shows that students choose (and remain in) post-secondary education programs with better job opportunities and higher hourly wages as a result of the information treatment. |
| Keywords: | field experiment, labor market information, education choice |
| JEL: | C93 D83 I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17951 |
| By: | Barabasch, Anton (Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany); Cygan-Rehm, Kamila (Dresden University of Technology); Heineck, Guido (University of Bamberg); Vogler, Sebastian (Dresden University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines internal migration from a lifetime perspective using unique data on detailed residential biographies of individuals born in Germany between 1944 and 1986. We first describe life-cycle patterns of internal mobility and potential differences across space, time, and socio-demographic groups. We find substantial differences across the life course, with major location changes around important educational decisions and striking differences across groups, especially by educational attainment. We then investigate causality in the substantial education-mobility gradient. For identification, we exploit two policy-induced sources of variation, each shifting towards better education at a different margin of the ability distribution. Using a difference-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design, we find no effect of these policies on internal mobility. |
| Keywords: | compulsory schooling, education, Germany, internal migration, regional mobility, enrollment cutoffs |
| JEL: | I26 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17948 |
| By: | Andrew C. Barr; Benjamin L. Castleman |
| Abstract: | A college degree offers a pathway to economic mobility for low-income students. Using a multi-site randomized controlled trial combined with administrative and survey data, we demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college significantly increases bachelor’s degree attainment among lower-income students. We leverage unique data on pre-advising college preferences and causal forest methods to show that these gains are primarily driven by improvements in initial enrollment quality. Our results suggest that strategies targeting college choice may be a more effective and efficient means of increasing degree attainment than those focused solely on affordability. |
| JEL: | H52 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33921 |
| By: | Iftikhar Hussain; Vincenzo Scrutinio; Shqiponja Telhaj |
| Abstract: | Public sector organizations around the world are held to account on the basis of objective measures of performance. This paper investigates, for the first time, the impact of subjective school inspection ratings on labor market and career outcomes for school principals, senior managers and teachers. Employing unique school inspection data and the population of teachers in secondary schools in England, we compare personnel in schools experiencing a rating change with those in schools with no change in inspection rating, in a difference-in-differences framework. A change in the overall school inspection rating has substantial impact on principals' wages and their rate of exit from public sector schooling, but the impact on teachers is much more muted. Our findings suggest that competition is a key mechanism through which changes in school inspection ratings affect school personnel labor market outcomes. Importantly, exploiting novel inspection sub-grade data on school leadership and management quality enables us to assess the impact on principals arising from this direct channel, over and above the response to overall school ratings. It reveals that the rating for this specific dimension of quality is an important channel driving principals' outcomes. These results shed new light on the impact of subjective quality assessments on the careers of public sector managers and employees. |
| Keywords: | Schools, school principals, teacher labour market, quality disclosure, inspections, labor, labour |
| Date: | 2025–06–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2107 |