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SUMMARY:An Elephant in the Classroom? Teacher Bias as an Educational Inequ
 ality Mechanism - Carlos Javier Gil Hernández (University of Florence)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250219T160000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250219T173000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/cbf451bc-f21b-44bd-8048-99b1b7e111cd/
DESCRIPTION:The gap between teacher grades and standardised test scores by
  student-ascribed characteristics is often interpreted as evidence of teac
 her bias. This gap raises concerns about teachers’ roles as fair evaluat
 ors of academic merit and their contribution to educational inequality\, a
 s posited long ago by Cultural Capital Theories (CCT). Conversely\, Ration
 al Action Theories (RAT) emphasise family decision-making\, often overlook
 ing teachers as relevant actors. Identifying whether teacher assessments a
 re fair or biased is critical for equal opportunity but methodologically c
 hallenging. Discrimination in education is underexplored compared to the l
 abour market\, with research hindered by omitted variable bias (e.g.\, eff
 ort and classroom behaviour)\, measurement error (e.g.\, test scores)\, an
 d underpowered\, low-validity experiments. These issues complicate determi
 ning whether teacher bias is a substantial inequality mechanism or a stati
 stical artefact. Grounded in interdisciplinary theories—including implic
 it bias\, status characteristics beliefs\, statistical discrimination\, CC
 T\, and RAT—this seminar integrates NEPS panel data and a large-scale fa
 ctorial experiment to analyse whether teacher assessments are biased by st
 udent ascribed characteristics\, particularly socioeconomic status. Observ
 ational findings reveal that adjusting for measurement error reduces teach
 er bias in grading and tracking recommendations by 40%\, challenging prior
  (over)estimations. Experimental findings unveil bias favouring highbrow c
 ultural capital in essay grading and statistical discrimination against wo
 rking-class students in long-term expectations. The seminar discusses the 
 relevance of teacher bias as a mechanism of educational (in)equality along
 side families.\nSpeakers:\nCarlos Javier Gil Hernández (University of Flo
 rence)
LOCATION:Nuffield College (Butler Room (D Staircase))\, New Road OX1 1NF
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/cbf451bc-f21b-44bd-8048-99b1b7e111cd/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:An Elephant in the Classroom? Teacher Bias as an Educatio
 nal Inequality Mechanism - Carlos Javier Gil Hernández (University of Flo
 rence)
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