Teacher Gender and Students' Academic Outcomes in High School

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of teacher gender on students' test scores and academic track decisions at the high school level, exploiting the random assignment of students to teachers in China for identification. The results indicate that having a female teacher significantly improves test scores for female students while negatively affecting male students. However, the presence of female teachers in science subjects does not increase the likelihood of female students enrolling in the high school science track in the short term. The effects of teacher gender on performance vary by class size and class gender composition, suggesting that teacher behavior, rather than role model effects, may be the primary driver of these outcomes.