Panel Paper:
Sibling Effects on High School Exam Taking and Performance
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
This research examined the extent to which older siblings serve as role models, and whether their AP performance had a causal impact on the AP exam decisions of their younger siblings. We found that when a younger sibling observed their older sibling earn a 3 on an AP exam, rather than a 2, they were 7 percent (2.2 percentage points) more likely to mimic their sibling by taking the exact same AP. Even more important, seeing their family member achieve a higher score increased the total number of AP exams they took, and even convinced some students who would have taken no AP exams to enroll in AP.
The biggest surprise was that younger siblings reacted very differently based on their gender. When an older sister received a higher AP score on a STEM exam, her younger sister was 12 percent more likely to take the same AP exam; a younger brother observing their older brother was only 2 percent more likely. These findings suggest that peer effects can help shrink AP gaps in areas where females are traditionally underrepresented. On the other hand, we saw less evidence of peer effects for brothers, regardless of exam type, even though males are underrepresented in most non-STEM exams and some STEM fields like Biology.
Our results show that younger siblings are highly attuned to the academic performance of their older siblings, using their performance as a guide to determine the extent they participate in challenging college-level coursework. One implication is that peers play an important role in determining AP participation, and that increasing AP availability might produce a snowball effect as access becomes normalized. We also find that students who respond to their older sibling’s performance perform well, passing the AP exam roughly 75% of the time. This implies that many students are likely underinvesting in their total AP participation, further evidence that more AP access is needed.
