The Effect of Peer and Professor Gender on College Student Performance

The effects of peer and professor gender on student performance have been examined separately but not in conjunction. We augment previous research by including peer and professor gender, as well as their interaction, in estimations of student performance. After controlling for both student and faculty fixed effects we find that female students typically perform better than males, but this performance gap varies depending on the gender of the professor and of the classroom. Overall the effect of professor gender on student performance is small at best if classrooms are predominantly female and much larger if classrooms are predominantly male.