Overcoming the Gender Bias in Training: An empirical approach in the Latin American quick-service restaurant industry

Last registered on April 13, 2023

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Overcoming the Gender Bias in Training: An empirical approach in the Latin American quick-service restaurant industry

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0011019

Initial registration date

April 12, 2023

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 13, 2023, 4:45 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Colombia

Region

Urban Areas

Primary Investigator

Name

Achyuta Adhvaryu

Affiliation

University of Michigan

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Anant Nyshadham

PI Affiliation

University of Michigan

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jorge Tamayo

PI Affiliation

Harvard Business School

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Oscar Poveda

PI Affiliation

Good Business Lab - Latin America

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2022-08-08

End date

2024-01-08

Keywords

Behavior, Firms & Productivity, Gender

Additional Keywords

Quick-service restaurant, Latin America

JEL code(s)

L2, M50, J24, L66

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

The services sector in Latin America has emerged as a major employer of female labor: nearly 50% of women in the workforce are either directly or indirectly employed in this sector. However, these numbers belie the fact that women occupy mostly low-wage, frontline positions in the service industry as opposed to better-paid managerial positions. Our previous research shows that in a leading Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR) company in Colombia markedly fewer women go farther up the hierarchy. Thus, for this intervention, we hypothesize that existing screening and training resources for managerial positions may overemphasize male-centric approaches and styles, posing a systemic friction for women in their recruitment for or promotion to managerial positions. The aim of this intervention is to evaluate the impact of a gender-informed managerial training program we are developing from prior research in other contexts, as well as and an ongoing baseline assessment of the gender heterogeneity in the productive value of different skills, practices, and styles among existing QSR managers.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Adhvaryu, Achyuta et al. 2023. "Overcoming the Gender Bias in Training: An empirical approach in the Latin American quick-service restaurant industry." AEA RCT Registry. April 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11019-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The goal of the project is to address gender imbalance by developing and testing the impact of a managerial best-practices training program that promotes productivity, gender diversity, and empowerment in the workplace. To that end, we propose to study these issues in 76 Quick-Service Restaurant across Colombia through our local partner.

The two main stages of the project are development of the curriculum and implementation of the main experiment. To develop the training curriculum, the survey data from our local partner, at shift and store managers level, in Colombia will be used. This instrument will give insight into managerial contributions and will be matched to survey-takers’ productivity data which will help to determine which managerial traits best predict positive organizational outcomes. We hope that disaggregating the results by gender will reveal specific traits that correlate to male and female managers, respectively.

Once the curriculum had been developed and before randomizing at store level, we will stratify out sample according to the gender of managers and employees in each store. Our resulting strata will consist of stores where the gender of the managers will be the same as the majority of the workforce they manage and stores where the gender of the managers will be different compared to the majority workforce within that store. By stratifying our sample this way, we hope we can identify how our treatment might affect managers differently depending on the gender composition of the workers they manage.

Intervention Start Date

2023-06-05

Intervention End Date

2024-01-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Productivity (Total sales, unit sales, number of orders) after the intervention that can be attributable to the skills taught during the intervention.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

The productivity-related outcomes are provided by the company.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Changes in perceptions about autonomy, job satisfaction, industriousness and motivation

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Soft skills have proven to have a salient effect in performance of workers across industries. Thus, this project also aims to assess this elements and their effect on sales, as proxy of productivity.

Experimental Design

A randomized control trial (RCT) will be conducted with male and female store and shift managers at 76 Quick-Service Restaurant locations in Colombia. At baseline, managers at each store will be surveyed about their managerial traits and knowledge of the content covered in their previous training. The survey outcomes will be measured again at endline, six months after the intervention. Additional stratification, accordance to geographical location, store performance and store type may have place. Stores will be randomized across a control arm and two intervention arms:

1. Curriculum fostering skills in which the gender of the trainee has excelled.
2. Curriculum fostering skills in which the opposite gender of the trainee has excelled.
3. Control group

Experimental Design Details

A randomized control trial (RCT) will be conducted with male and female store and shift managers at 76 Quick-Service Restaurant locations locations in Colombia. At baseline, managers at each store will be surveyed about their managerial traits and knowledge of the content covered in their previous training. The survey outcomes will be measured again at endline, six months after the intervention. Additional stratification, accordance to geographical location, store performance and store type may have place. Stores will be randomized across a control arm and two intervention arms:

1. Curriculum fostering skills in which the gender of the trainee has excelled: stores will receive a four-month intervention that trains employees using a curriculum that improves skills in which the same gender of the trainee has reported salient performance (i.e., a female worker will receive a training curriculum that enhances dexterities in which female workers have historically reported outstanding performance).
2. Curriculum fostering skills in which the opposite gender of the trainee has excelled: stores will receive a four-month intervention that trains employees using curriculum that improves skills in which the opposite gender of the trainee has reported salient performance (i.e., a female worker will receive a training curriculum that enhances dexterities in which male workers have historically reported outstanding performance).
3. Control group: stores will receive no training intervention.

Randomization Method

The randomization will be done by a random process in a computer. However, there will be previous stratification in order to divide the sample according to the gender of managers and employees in each store. The resulting strata will consist of stores where the gender of the managers will be the same as the majority of the workforce they manage and stores where the gender of the managers will be different compared to the majority workforce within that store.

Randomization Unit

Only one level of randomization: Stores.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

76 stores in Colombia

Sample size: planned number of observations

320 managers (either, store, assisting or shift manager)

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

25 stores per arm:
1. Curriculum fostering skills in which the gender of the trainee has excelled (25 stores)
2. Curriculum fostering skills in which the opposite gender of the trainee has exceled (25 stores)
3. Control group (25 stores)

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

It is expected a minimum detectable effect (MDE) with a size up to 0.15 standard deviations (SD) between arms. This was estimated with a take-up rate as low as 75% and an attrition rate as high as 10%. Punctually, with an attrition rate of 75%, it is expected a Treatment Effect for male managers of 0 .14 SD, the one for female managers of 0.25 SD and a difference between these two treatments of 0.11.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB