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

• In Event: Probing Structural Inequality: Expansion of Audit Examinations to Educational Contexts

Abstract

Black and Hispanic students in the United States are underrepresented in advanced curriculum programs such as gifted and talented programs at the elementary and middle school level and Advanced Placement (AP) courses at the high school level. The underrepresentation of black and Hispanic students in advanced curriculum settings contributes to racial inequality in the access to high quality education since advanced courses attract more highly trained, effective teachers. Additionally, researchers have discovered numerous benefits that accrue to students from being placed in learning environments with high achieving peers and in advanced curriculum programs including: 1) improved academic performance, 2) increased likelihood of graduation, 3) increased likelihood of matriculation to four year colleges and universities, 4) improved behavioral outcomes, 5) improved self-esteem, and 6) increased access to beneficial social networks.

Racial disparities in AP participation are more pronounced in courses involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). There are also gender differences in STEM course participation with female students less likely to participate than male students. The intensified national focus on preparing more students for STEM fields, coupled with research that demonstrates that improvements in math outcomes for minority students appear to be closely linked to better long-term life outcomes, underscores the need to more fully understand the underrepresentation of female and minority students in these fields. This paper adds to the experimental research on bias in school settings by examining whether school counselors create a structural barrier to entry into AP math courses for female and minority students.

Using an adaptation of an audit study, we examine whether high school counselors exhibit racial or gender biases when recommending students for an AP Calculus course. A sample of school counselors are asked to evaluate student transcripts that are identical except for the name on the transcript to decide whether to recommend each student for advanced coursework. The names on the profiles are varied randomly to have white or black sounding names, and male or female sounding names. We also include a blind recommendation scenario (no name visible on the transcript) as an experimental intervention designed to reduce the potential for bias. Since the only differences in the profiles will be the gender or racial origin of the names on top, we would expect no significant difference in the likelihood of these potential gatekeepers recommending a particular student profile for advanced coursework. Any differences can be attributed to bias. We find that black female students are least likely to be recommended for AP Calculus and are rated as being the least prepared for the course. Male students are disproportionately penalized for having borderline behavior while female students are disproportionately penalized for having borderline academics. Our results have key policy implications for any program that asks individuals to make student recommendations that may be subject to bias – implicit or otherwise.

Authors

• Dania Francis, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Angela de Oliveira, University of Massachusetts

• Carey Dimmitt, University of Massachusetts - Amherst