Student Gender and Teachers’ Career Guidance

Teachers often play an important role in advising students about post-secondary educational choices. In settings where students apply to a limited number of programs defined by university–major pairs, guidance from teachers can influence both the selectivity of universities students target and their choice of major. However, relatively little is known about how teachers form recommendations when advising students who differ in gender, academic profiles, and family backgrounds.

The objective of this study is to examine the determinants of teachers’ guidance decisions. We conduct a survey experiment with high school teachers in which respondents evaluate hypothetical student profiles and provide recommendations about suitable university program targets. The profiles randomly vary along several dimensions commonly considered in academic guidance. For each profile, teachers also report expectations about admission prospects and future outcomes.

By randomly varying characteristics of otherwise comparable student profiles, the experiment allows us to identify how teachers incorporate student attributes and contextual information when advising students about university applications, including both the selectivity of the target university and the choice of major. The study contributes to understanding the role of teachers’ expectations and recommendations in shaping students’ educational trajectories during the transition from secondary to higher education.