Women in STEM: The Role of Role Models

Last registered on July 24, 2018

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Women in STEM: The Role of Role Models
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002945
Initial registration date
July 18, 2018

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
July 24, 2018, 2:13 AM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Virginia Tech

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Universidad de Piura
PI Affiliation
Virginia Tech

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-05-01
End date
2019-03-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Gender disparities in STEM fields remain large and systematic. In this study, set in the context of developing country, we will use a randomized control trial to study the effects of role models on the decisions of high school students to choose STEM fields as their choice of major in college. Our treatment involves short talks provided by female students currently enrolled in STEM majors in some selected high schools, whereas other schools act as the control group. These talks will provide students information about engineering as a career, as well as discuss the experiences of women in STEM classrooms. Our primary outcome of interest is the enrollment decisions made by students.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Agurto, Marcos, Siddharth Hari and Sudipta Sarangi. 2018. "Women in STEM: The Role of Role Models." AEA RCT Registry. July 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2945-1.0
Former Citation
Agurto, Marcos, Siddharth Hari and Sudipta Sarangi. 2018. "Women in STEM: The Role of Role Models." AEA RCT Registry. July 24. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2945/history/32126
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2018-05-01
Intervention End Date
2018-12-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
STEM field preference: For each student in our study, we will track whether a STEM field was stated by them as being their preferred major.
STEM field enrollment: For each student in our study, we will track whether they have enrolled in a STEM field at University.
Entrance Exam performance: For each student in our study we will measure how they perform on a standardized entrance examinationw hich determines their entry int University.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
10 students currently enrolled in STEM majors at a university will be our role models. These students will visit randomly selected high schools and deliver brief (20 minute) talks about engineering as a major, providing information about career opportunities as well as describing their experiences. Other schools, which do not receive visits by the role-models will be the control group.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done on a computer.
Randomization Unit
High-School level randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
110 Schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
5,000 students.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 schools treatment, 59 control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Universidad de Piura
IRB Approval Date
2018-04-23
IRB Approval Number
N/A
IRB Name
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
IRB Approval Date
2018-07-05
IRB Approval Number
N/A

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials