This study asks whether professors’ identities — including gender and perceived race or ethnicity — influence which courses first-year university students choose to enroll in. Using a choice-based conjoint experiment with first-year students, the authors examine whether attributes of instructors affect students’ selection decisions and report measurable effects of instructor gender and perceived race/ethnicity on course choice.
Conjoint experiment; first-year students; instructor gender; perceived race/ethnicity
Data and methods
The study used a choice-based conjoint experiment administered to first-year university students. The abstract identifies the sample as first-year students and the experimental technique as a conjoint design, which manipulates instructor attributes to observe students’ stated course-selection preferences.
Main findings
According to the abstract, instructor gender and perceived race and ethnicity affected course selection in the experiment. The authors highlight these observed enrollment preferences and frame them as relevant to university evaluation and faculty career outcomes.
- The experiment found that attributes of instructors (gender and perceived race/ethnicity) influence students’ stated course choices.
