The idea pops up regularly in discussions about equity: would it help if boys were taught by men and girls by women? In theory, what we call gender matching sounds logical. Think of role models, fewer stereotypical expectations, and more recognition. But in practice, this has long been a difficult question. We already touched on it in our second myth book. This month, a new preprint revisits the issue. It draws on a large American dataset that follows pupils from kindergarten through the end of primary school. For clarity, the study by Eric Hengyu Hu has not yet been peer-reviewed. The findings are therefore interesting, but preliminary.

The study follows almost 8,000 children from the ECLS-K, a nationally representative cohort in the United States. Because the study uses a solid design with student fixed effects, the authors can pinpoint more accurately whether differences come from the teacher or the child. They look not only at reading, mathematics and science. They also consider behaviour, social functioning, and even executive functions.

What did the researchers find? In broad terms, there is little evidence that gender matching makes much difference in primary school. For boys, the researchers find no meaningful effects. Not positive, not negative. For girls, the picture is somewhat more nuanced. Girls taught by a female teacher show slightly higher scores on two domains rated by teachers: interpersonal skills and approaches to learning. These are minor but statistically reliable effects. Think: a little more persistence, a little more cooperation, a little more attentiveness.

Whether this is because girls function differently with a female teacher, or because female teachers rate girls a little more generously, remains unclear for now. The authors explicitly acknowledge that possibility.

What does this mean for policy? The authors are careful but clear: anyone hoping that gender matching will be a major lever for reducing differences between boys and girls is likely overestimating its impact. Teacher quality, the way lessons are taught, the relationship with pupils and the structure of the classroom? They all seem to matter far more than the teacher’s gender.

This does not mean that diversity has no value. Children benefit from a range of examples and perspectives. But diversity is broader than gender alone. And role models are not solely present in the classroom.