Grade Sensitivity and the Economics Major at a Women’s College

Abstract

We use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal effect of letter grades in introductory courses on the probability of choosing an economics major at Wellesley College, a highly selective women's college. We find that women just above letter-grade cutoffs are 18 percentage points more likely to major in economics than women just below, a 50 percent increase. The effects are larger among financial aid recipients. Grade sensitivity among women is not explained by the presence of male students or instructors; it is more plausibly explained by lower precollege preferences for the major and gender-specific responses to noisy signals like grades.