Title: When Harry Won't Meet Sally: Gender Disparity in Online Learning Platforms
Abstract: Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser Add Paper to My Library Share: Permalink Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely Copy URL When Harry Won't Meet Sally: Gender Disparity in Online Learning Platforms 46 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2022 Last revised: 2 Sep 2022 See all articles by Zhihan (Helen) WangZhihan (Helen) WangUniversity of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of BusinessJun LiUniversity of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of BusinessDi (Andrew) WuUniversity of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business Date Written: September 1, 2022 Abstract Problem Definition: Education technology innovations such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platforms could potentially enable a more inclusive learning environment by delivering education to traditionally-disadvantaged learners such as women. However, inclusivity does not necessarily translate into equal treatment on the platform. We investigate whether female and male learners benefit equally from forum discussions---typically the only form of interaction available---in online learning platforms.Methodology and Results: Utilizing a large-scale, interaction-level dataset on 174 courses on Coursera, we uncover an economically sizable and statistically significant disparity between male and female learners in receiving responses to their posts in MOOC discussion forums. On average, female learners' questions are 3.11 percentage points (pp) less likely to receive responses from teaching staff than male learners', which equals 15.2% of the female group average. We investigate possible mechanisms behind the gender disparity using new techniques including textual analysis tools. We show that the disparity is not due to content differences in male and female learners' posts, nor is it attributable to their linguistic styles or the reputation of the posters. Instead, our results are most consistent with a male-driven, gender homophily mechanism---although female staff is gender-neutral in their interactions with learners, male staffs systemically prefer responding to posts from male learners. We additionally show that receiving staff response leads to significant improvement in course passing rates, particularly for female learners. Therefore, the unequal access to information through course forums unfavorably hinders female learners' performance. Managerial Implications: Our results provide both operational and organizational suggestions to platforms and content providers, including (1) the de-gendering of user identifiers, (2) a content-focused post recommendation system, (3) a gender-neutral user reputation system, and (4) promoting the recruiting of female teaching staff, and (5) staff training that highlights the importance of gender-neutral interactions. Keywords: online education; gender bias; mooc Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation Wang, Zhihan (Helen) and Li, Jun and Wu, Di, When Harry Won't Meet Sally: Gender Disparity in Online Learning Platforms (September 1, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4196195 Zhihan (Helen) Wang University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email ) 701 Tappan StreetAnn Arbor, MI MI 48109United States Jun Li University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email ) 701 Tappan StreetAnn Arbor, MI MI 48109United States Di Wu (Contact Author) University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email ) 701 Tappan StreetAnn Arbor, MI MI 48109United States Download This Paper Open PDF in Browser Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN? Place Job Opening Paper statistics Downloads 1 Abstract Views 14 PlumX Metrics Related eJournals Technology, Operations Management & Production eJournal Follow Technology, Operations Management & Production eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic FOLLOWERS 785 PAPERS 1,511 Feedback Feedback to SSRN Feedback (required) Email (required) Submit If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. Submit a Paper Section 508 Text Only Pages SSRN Quick Links SSRN Solutions Research Paper Series Conference Papers Partners in Publishing Jobs & Announcements Newsletter Sign Up SSRN Rankings Top Papers Top Authors Top Organizations About SSRN SSRN Objectives Network Directors Presidential Letter Announcements Contact us FAQs Copyright Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To learn more, visit Cookie Settings. This page was processed by aws-apollo5 in 0.268 seconds
Publication Year: 2022
Publication Date: 2022-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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