A peer like me? Early exposure to high achievers in math and later educational outcomes

Thanks to data allowing us to observe children’s peers multiple times, we investigate whether exposure during primary school to same- and opposite-gender high achievers affects children’s outcomes after termination of the exposure. Exploiting the as-good-as random allocation of children across classes within Italian primary schools, we find that exposure to a higher share of same-gender math high achievers is related to better academic performance, for both boys and girls, three years after termination of the exposure. Negative effects are observed in case of exposure to a higher share of opposite-gender high achievers. Results are consistent with a role model channel.