A Pare to-Improving Way to Teach Principles of Economics: Evidence from the University of Toronto

University of Toronto undergraduates can choose between conventional and literacy-targeted (LT) principles of economics courses. We compare demographics and performance in subsequent courses for 13,000 students over 11 years and find that LT courses attract a greater percentage of female and domestic students; conditional on meeting grade thresholds, LT students do just as well in intermediate theory and statistics courses as conventional principles students; women do as well or better than men in intermediate theory and statistics courses. With appropriately chosen thresholds, departments offering LT courses can preserve subsequent disciplinary rigor and address underrepresentation of women and minorities.