Nobel Laureate David Card, UC Berkeley

Title: Can Gifted Education Help Higher-Ability Boys from Disadvantaged Backgrounds?
(co-authors: Eric Chyn, and Laura Giuliano)

Abstract: Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely than their peers to succeed in school and enter college. Disparities are wider for boys, leading to large college enrollment gaps between low-income girls and boys of similar cognitive ability. We study how gifted status in 5th grade – determined by having IQ≥116 – affects subsequent educational outcomes of disadvantaged children in a large urban school district. For marginally eligible boys, gifted identification raises the college entry rate from 50% to 75% and closes the gap with their female counterparts. Similar effects on course-taking and grades point to a key role for engagement in math.

Presenter: David Card, University of California, Berkeley

If you would like to subscribe to the Melbourne Institute Seminar Series email list, please contact us.