Student beliefs on labour market outcomes

Last registered on May 07, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Student beliefs on labour market outcomes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013076
Initial registration date
March 24, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 02, 2024, 10:48 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
May 07, 2024, 6:11 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Nuzhat Sharmeen
Affiliation
University of Glasgow
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Arjunan Subramanian
PI Affiliation
University of Glasgow
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PI Name
Senthil Kuppuswamy
PI Affiliation
RVS
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-07-01
End date
2025-05-31
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Why does academic and labour market outcomes differ for those in pursuing post secondary education? This study will explore whether any prior social or individual beliefs can explain these differences. An intervention designed to enable learning from past failures by generating an anticipation of regret for not taking action when it was the time to do so. A retrospective exposure to past failed experiences could increase individuals' awareness on what leads to failure. As a result, individuals should update their beliefs and make behavioural changes that help them get their desired educational and labour market goals. This study is interested to look at whether there is any demand for higher order cognitive skills as a result of the treatment and whether individual emotional intelligence can explain any differences likely to be observed. In the short term we can observe whether there is update in beliefs and in the long term we can observe real academic and labour market outcomes.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kuppuswamy, Senthil, Nuzhat Sharmeen and Arjunan Subramanian. 2024. "Student beliefs on labour market outcomes." AEA RCT Registry. May 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13076-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-01
Intervention End Date
2025-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Academic Outcomes:
1. Self reported beliefs on graduation and grades
2. Graduation status and grades

Labour Market Outcomes:
1. Self reported beliefs on employability
2. Self reported beliefs on expected starting salary
3. Self reported beliefs on average job search time
4. Self reported beliefs on earnings in 5 years
5. Self reported beliefs on employment status in 5 years
6. Self reported beliefs on employment sector
7. Real employment status upon graduation
8. Real starting salary upon graduation
9. Real job search time
10. Real sector of employment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Grit, locus of control, self efficacy, growth mindset captured through standard indices
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The intervention will be through two day long workshops, once in the beginning of the academic term and again when students are preparing for the job market. Students in the treatment arm will be exposed to retrospective information shared by past graduates on their academic and professional failures. The video content will focus on how low academic performance and strict non-pecuniary preferences for a job resulted in worse than expected labour market outcomes. A post intervention workshop will also be conducted. Students in the placebo arm will be exposed to a psychologically inactive content.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
individual student level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000 individual students in the final year of their undergraduate and post graduate courses.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 individual students in the final year of their undergraduate and post graduate courses.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 individual students in treatment arm, 500 individual students in control arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Ethics Committee of RVS College of Arts and Science (Autonomous), Coimbatore)
IRB Approval Date
2023-11-07
IRB Approval Number
n/a
Analysis Plan