Jordan Peterson on education: what the evidence says · JRE #877
SUBJECT: EDUCATION
The short answer
Peterson claims his Self Authoring writing program raised GPA by 25%, cut dropout rates by the same amount, and moved non-Western minority students from 70% below average to outperforming Dutch native women at Rotterdam School of Management. Peterson is referring to a 2015 peer-reviewed study he co-authored with Michaela Schippers and Ad Scheepers evaluating an online goal-setting writing intervention (marketed commercially as "Self Authoring") given to first-year students at a large Dutch business school, widely identified as Rotterdam School of Management.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
we've raised their grade point average of their kids 25 percent, dropped their dropout rate the same, and it's had a walloping effect on men and on non-Western ethnic minorities. It's moved the non-Western ethnic minority student population performance at Rotterdam School of Management from 70 percent below the average to above the female Dutch natives.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Peterson is referring to a 2015 peer-reviewed study he co-authored with Michaela Schippers and Ad Scheepers evaluating an online goal-setting writing intervention (marketed commercially as "Self Authoring") given to first-year students at a large Dutch business school, widely identified as Rotterdam School of Management. The published results do not match the figures Peterson cites: the paper reports that ethnic minority male students earned 44% more course credits (not a 25% GPA increase) and saw their retention rate rise 54% (not a 25% cut in dropout), while the gender achievement gap closed by 98% and the ethnicity gap closed by 38% in year one, rising to 93% by year two. The paper contains no figure describing minority students moving from "70 percent below average" to outperforming Dutch native women; pre-intervention dropout among ethnic minority students is reported at roughly 62%, not 70%, and framed in different terms than Peterson's phrasing suggests. The study's own competing-interests disclosure states a per-student fee was paid to Peterson by the participating business school for use of the intervention, giving him a direct financial interest in the program's reported success. The underlying research is real, peer-reviewed, and does report substantial positive effects for minority and male students, but Peterson's specific spoken statistics do not correspond to the numbers the paper actually reports.
Evidence sources 03 / EXHIBITS
Who Benefits
Peterson co-authored the study and, per its own competing-interests disclosure, was paid a per-student fee by the participating business school for use of the online intervention (marketed commercially as Self Authoring), a direct financial stake in the program being cited as effective.