Ethnic minority dropout in economics

Abstract

This paper investigates the first-year study success of minority students in the bachelor program in economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. We find that the gap in study success between minority and majority students can be attributed to differences in high school education. Students from similar high school tracks show no significant differences in first year drop-out rates or credits gained. Minority students tend to originate, however, from suboptimal preparatory tracks. We also observe significant differences in the nature of the drop-out. Majority students are more inclined to switch studies early on, whereas minority students tend to wait until they are forced out by the institution. This may contribute to the perception of minority students as a problem group, while in fact the ex-ante prospects of minority and majority students with similar high school training do not differ. Adding data from self-evaluations, we find that measures for academic and social integration have a limited impact on dropout and cannot explain the gap in study success between minority and majority students.