EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS OF NATIONAL-SCIENCE-FOUNDATION (NSF) GRADUATE APPLICANTS - LOOKING FOR PYGMALION AND GALATEA EFFECTS ON NSF WINNERS

National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowships are awarded to approximately half of a homogeneous group of applicants in a procedure that approximates random assignment to the conditions of either fellowship or honorable mention. This natural experiment permits assessment of the effect on early career accomplishments of being named an NSF fellow. The authors found a consistent effect for PhD completion-overall, fellows were 7% more likely to complete the PhD than were nonawardees-but found no reliable fellowship effect on achieving faculty status, achieving top faculty status, or submitting or receiving an NSF or a National Institutes of Health research grant. The authors conclude that the positive expectancies associated with this prestigious fellowship have only a small influence (Pygmalion or Galatea effect) in graduate school and no effect thereafter.