The impact of out-of-field STEM high school teachers on college decisions: evidence from Chile

This paper examines the effects of out-of-field teachers during secondary education on students, focusing on academic performance and college choices in STEM subjects, using detailed data from Chile. Our findings indicate a generally negative impact of out-of-field teaching in Math, Chemistry, and Physics on the likelihood of students taking the college entrance exam, while Biology's impact appears negligible, possibly due to its less intensive use of mathematics. Specifically, out-of-field teaching in these subjects decreases student's participation in the science portion of the college entrance exam, critical for STEM program admissions. Although students interest in STEM majors is not broadly affected, those taught by out-of-field Physics teachers show a reduced preference for STEM fields. The study also highlights that out-of-field teaching lowers college enrollment rates, especially in STEM majors, with low-socioeconomic status students and males being particularly affected. Males have lower rates of exam participation and suffer more from out-of-field teaching in Physics and Chemistry, while females face obstacles enrolling in STEM programs after being taught by out-of-field teachers in Physics.