American Economic Review
Vol. 114, Issue 7, Pages 1916-1948
July 2024
Abstract
We study how people change their behavior after being made aware
of bias. Teachers in Italian schools give lower grades to immigrant
students relative to natives of comparable ability. In two experiments, we reveal to teachers their own stereotypes, measured by an Implicit Association Test (IAT). In the first, we find that learning one’s IAT before assigning grades reduces the native-immigrant grade gap. In the second, IAT disclosure and generic debiasing have similar average effects, but there is heterogeneity: teachers with stronger negative stereotypes do not respond to generic debiasing, but change their behavior when informed about their own IAT.
Citation
Alesina, Alberto, Michela Carlana, Eliana La Ferrara, and Paolo Pinotti. "Revealing Stereotypes: Evidence from Immigrants in Schools." American Economic Review 114.7 (July 2024): 1916-1948.