Foreign GTAs Can Be Effective Teachers of Economics

Abstract

The authors assess the impact of foreign graduate teaching associates (GTAs) on undergraduate economics instruction where the standard language for the majority of students is English. They find little evidence that foreign GTAs adversely affect grades in economics principles courses or students' choices of additional economics courses. In some cases, the impact of a foreign GTA is significantly positive. The authors consider a range of definitions of foreign, including nationality, language, and political background, and find the nonnegative foreign GTA effect to be robust. Their findings suggest that when foreign GTAs are properly screened and trained in spoken English and in teaching skills, they are at least as effective in providing economic education as GTAs from the United States.