Abstract

The idea that students benefit from same-sex teachers has motivated many policies around the world aimed at reducing gender inequalities. However, we do not know the size or generalizability such same-sex teacher effects. We fill this gap by conducting a meta-analysis and our own study using data from 90 countries. Our meta-analysis summarizes the literature and highlights that studies are often underpowered and difficult to compare because they use different methods. Our multi-country study overcomes these shortcomings by providing many high-powered and comparable estimates. Those estimates are ideal for learning about the generalizability of an effect. We find that same-sex teacher effects are positive for most countries and outcomes. For test scores, we find very small average effects which generalize across all countries. For job preferences, we find larger average effects which are more pronounced in rich and gender-equal countries. Our paper showcases how we can use multi-country studies to learn about the generalizability of an effect.