Expectations about the Productivity of Effort and Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Information Intervention

Abstract

We implement a randomized information intervention to enhance expectations about the productivity of effort. Our sample consists of an entire cohort of undergraduate students at a UK university. The intervention increases first-year exam grades and overall GPA, with an intention-to-treat effect of 0.10 of a standard deviation. The effects are larger for men, such that the intervention reduces the gender gap in academic achievement by a third. Detailed measurements enable us to analyse the most plausible causal pathways, including changes in beliefs and different types of academic inputs. We replicate the main results on first-year GPA at another UK university.

Keywords: subjective expectations, non-cognitive skills, information intervention

JEL Classification: C91, D84, D91, I21, I23