American Economic Review Vol. 112 No. 12 2022
Interaction, Stereotypes, and Performance: Evidence from South Africa
Abstract
We exploit a policy designed to randomly allocate roommates in a large South African university to investigate whether interracial interaction affects stereotypes, attitudes and performance. Using implicit association tests, we find that living with a roommate of a different race reduces White students' negative stereotypes towards Black students and increases interracial friendships. Interaction also affects academic outcomes: Black students improve their GPA, pass more exams and have lower dropout rates. This effect is not driven by roommate's ability.
- DOI
- 10.1257/aer.20181805
- Volume
- 112
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 3848-3875
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref