Research
Abstract
I examine the persistence of old-for-grade effects in secondary education on social-emotional skills, measured by self-esteem, friendships, learning approaches, and goal-setting mindsets. Students who are older at school entry, thereby older than their grade peers throughout school life may have a potential advantage in their social-emotional skill development. Utilizing a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and leveraging data from the Seoul Education Longitudinal Study 2010 (SELS) in South Korea, I uncover different patterns for girls and boys. I find that old-for-grade girls consistently exhibit higher self-esteem compared to young-for-grade girls during both middle and high school. I also find suggestive evidence that old-for-grade girls maintain more effective learning approaches and stronger friendships. In contrast, I do not find significant differences between old-for-grade and young-for-grade boys. These findings suggest the persistence of old-for-grade effects and gender disparities in social-emotional skill development, potentially carrying implications for future labor market outcomes.
Work in progress
Do Single-sex Middle Schools Improve Social-Emotional Skills
Abstract
This paper uses a unique random school assignment in Seoul to examine the effects of single-sex middle schools on students' social-emotional skills. Conditioning on sixth grade baseline measures, I find that male students in all-boys middle schools show improved self-esteem and learning approaches compared to their counterparts in coeducational middle schools, despite having lower school satisfaction. They also have higher test scores in math and English. On the other hand, female students in all-girls middle schools do not necessarily experience improvement in social-emotional skills, although they are more satisfied with school. These findings suggest that single-sex schools have differential effects on female and male students, possibly leading to different later-life outcomes.