Examining the impact of single-sex schools on women’s willingness to lead

Last registered on April 13, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Examining the impact of single-sex schools on women’s willingness to lead
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011079
Initial registration date
April 02, 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, 3:32 PM EDT

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
National Taiwan University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
National Taiwan University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-04-03
End date
2023-08-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Our study investigates whether females in single-sex environments are more inclined to take on leadership roles in group activities. To achieve this, we conduct a laboratory experiment that recruited high school students from single-sex and mixed-sex schools and randomly assigning them to either single-sex or mixed-sex groups. We measure their willingness to lead and self-confidence while controlling for risk preference. Through this experiment, we aim to examine the interaction term between single-sex schools and single-sex groups.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chen, Josie I and Fu-Hsuan Tsai. 2023. "Examining the impact of single-sex schools on women’s willingness to lead." AEA RCT Registry. April 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11079-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2023-04-03
Intervention End Date
2023-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The effect of the gender composition of high school on willingness to lead
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
math ability, Chinese ability, numeracy, real-effort ability, self-confidence, risk preferences, and IAT
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In our laboratory experiment, we recruited high school students from both single-sex and mixed-sex schools and randomly assigned them to single-sex or mixed-sex groups. We measured their willingness to lead, self-confidence levels, and controlled for risk preference and demographic background.
Experimental Design Details
To investigate the impact of a single-sex environment on the willingness to take a leading role, we recruited high school students from both single-sex and mixed-sex schools and randomly assigned them to either single-sex or mixed-sex groups to conduct the experiment.

The experiment consists of five parts. In the first part, participants are instructed to play four games - the math game, the Chinese game, the 9-square game, and the Greek-alphabets game - to earn points. The math and Chinese games consist of multiple-choice questions extracted from the standard test required for admission to high schools in Taiwan. In the 9-square game, participants are asked to choose two numbers from a square grid, the sum of which must equal 100. In the greek-alphabets game, participants are prompted to click the greek-alphabets button in a randomly assigned order.

In the second part of the experiment, participants are not only required to play the similar four games as in the first part. Still, they are also asked to disclose their willingness to lead their pre-assigned group and estimate their ranking within the group. To encourage honest responses, the participants are offered incentives, which are designed based on the incentive structure used in a study conducted by Born, Ranehill, and Sandberg (2022).

During the third and fourth parts of the experiment, participants are subjected to a standard risk preference task adapted from Holt and Laury's (2002) study and an Implicit Association Test (IAT). In the risk preference task, participants are presented with a list of multiple prices and must choose between a safer option and a more risky option. In the IAT, researchers investigate the association in their minds between gender and major by assessing participants' response times.

In the final part of the experiment, participants are requested to provide demographic information, which includes their academic grades in high school, gender, and preference for college majors.
Randomization Method
draw numbers on a stick: a method of making a random selection
By labeling each seat with a number and pre-assigning some seats for females and others for males, we assign each group a single-sex or mixed-sex group. Then, each participant can randomly draw a stick from a pile, with a number on it indicating their seat number and group assignment. This method can create randomized groups while ensuring that each group is in an assigned gender composition.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 (estimated) people
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 (estimated) people
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Around 75 females attended single-sex schools, 75 females attended mixed-sex schools, and 50 males attended mixed-sex schools. They were divided into groups of 4 people each, resulting in 100 females in female-only groups, 50 females in mixed-sex groups, and 50 males in mixed-sex groups.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
National Taiwan University Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2023-03-20
IRB Approval Number
202302HS016

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