Bridging Education Gender Gaps in Developing Countries: The Role of Female Teachers

Abstract

We study gender gaps in learning and the effectiveness of female teachers in reducing them using a large, representative, annual panel data set from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. We find a small but significant negative trend in girls’ test scores in both math and language. Using five years of panel data, we find that teachers are more effective at teaching students of their own gender. Female teachers are more effective at teaching girls than male teachers but no worse at teaching boys. Thus, hiring female teachers on the current margin may reduce gender gaps in test scores without hurting boys.