Julian Schüssler: Compensating Discrimination in Danish Schools

Abstract
Discriminatory practices among decision-makers aren't uniform; they can differ quite substantially. This isn't just a bland statement; it allows us to delve into the complex mechanisms behind discrimination. We study this in the context of biased grading in Danish schools. We argue that teacher biases are influenced by specific classroom experiences with demographic (gender/migrant) groups. This can lead to inequality-reinforcing biases, and other times, to compensating ones. Examining large-scale administrative data on Danish students, we show that there is wide variation in biases across teachers and a robust compensation effect. Teachers who have seen a particular demographic group under-perform display more positive biases towards that group than teachers who have witnessed over-performance. Methodologically, the analysis illustrates the utility of causal directed acyclic graphs when analyzing observational data in the social sciences.
Link to paper
osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/5zm87/
About the speaker
Julian Schüssler, Postdoc, Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination (CEPDISC), Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
IMC Tuesday Seminar held November 21st, 2023.
Note: Talk is trimmed to ensure anonymity of informants.