Expectations about the productivity of effort and academic outcomes: evidence from a randomized information intervention

Summary

We implement a randomized information intervention to enhance beliefs about the productivity of effort on a cohort of undergraduate students at a UK university. The intervention increases first-year exam grades and GPA, with an intention-to-treat effect of 0.10 of a standard deviation. The effects are larger for men, reducing the gender gap in academic achievement by a third. The data allow us to examine the mechanisms linking the intervention to outcomes, through changes in beliefs and academic inputs, as well as its longer-term effects. We replicate the main results at another UK university, highlighting the external validity of our findings.