Study Finds Girls Do Better Academically When Their Teachers Are Women

A new study led by researchers at Texas A&M University finds that girl students do better academically in language arts and mathematics classes when their teacher is a woman. The study examined the academic records of 12,000 students in Korean middle schools. The results showed that girls with women teachers scored significantly higher on assessment measures than girls who had male teachers. Korean schools were used in the study because students are randomly placed in classes. Previous research has shown that in the United States male teachers tend to be assigned to advanced-level students more so than women teachers.

Jonathan Meer, an associate professor of economics at Texas A&M University and a co-author of the study, said that “female students are much more likely to report that their female teachers give them an equal chance to participate and that they encourage creative expression more than their male teachers.”

If it really is a matter how female teachers treat female students, Meer says, “at minimum, I think it’s important to be aware of how one’s behavior might affect people of different groups, even if that behavior is subconscious. Of course, that’s difficult to do.”

The study, “The Impact of Teacher-Student Gender Matches: Random Assignment Evidence from South Korea,” was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It may be accessed here.