Does Class Size Affect the Gender Gap? A Natural Experiment in Law

Authors

Daniel E. HoFollow
Mark G. KelmanFollow

Start Page

291

Abstract

We study a unique natural experiment in which Stanford Law School randomly assigned first-year students to small or large sections of mandatory courses from 2001 to 2011. We provide evidence that assignment to small sections closed a slight (but substantively and highly statistically significant) gender gap existing in large sections from 2001 to 2008; that reforms in 2008 that modified the grading system and instituted small graded writing and simulation-intensive courses eliminated the gap entirely; and that women, if anything, outperformed men in small simulation-based courses. Our evidence suggests that pedagogical policy—particularly small class sizes—can reduce, and even reverse, achievement gaps in postgraduate education.

Recommended Citation

Ho, Daniel E. and Kelman, Mark G. (2014) "Does Class Size Affect the Gender Gap? A Natural Experiment in Law," Journal of Legal Studies: Vol. 43: No. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/jls/vol43/iss2/3