Coursera Coach, an in-course learning assistant, has demonstrated the potential to enhance the online learning experience and promote equitable engagement across diverse learners. This study investigates the impact of Coursera Coach on various learner demographics, focusing specifically on women, career starters/switchers, and individuals without college degrees. By leveraging the power of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and grounding it in pedagogical principles, Coursera Coach aims to provide tailored guidance, interactive practice, and real-time feedback. The findings reveal that Coursera Coach has successfully engaged traditionally underserved groups, with women exhibiting an 11.1% higher likelihood of interacting with the assistant, learners starting their career being 39.8% more likely to engage, and those without college degrees being 10.8% more likely to use the feature. We conducted a randomized controlled trial and saw that learners randomly assigned access to Coursera Coach completed significantly more modules of content, on average, than in the control group of the experiment. These insights underscore the importance of designing inclusive and personalized online learning experiences, particularly in the rapidly evolving technology landscape. These initial results demonstrate how an in-course GenAI tutor is poised to help drive more equitable engagement in online courses.

Keywords: Online learning, AI tutor, women, career starters, GenAI, feedback, self-efficacy.