Professional Visibility and Academic Careers

Last registered on September 04, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Professional Visibility and Academic Careers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011807
Initial registration date
August 30, 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
September 04, 2023, 6:48 AM EDT

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

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Tatyana Deryugina
Affiliation
University of Illinois
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mackenzie Alston
PI Affiliation
University of Illinois
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Olga Shurchkov
PI Affiliation
Wellesley College
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-08-31
End date
2026-09-30
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor, Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study aims to understand the role of social media use for professional purposes in determining academics’ career outcomes. Eligible participants who consent to enroll in the study complete a baseline survey. Some randomly selected subjects receive emails with suggestions about how to use Twitter effectively for professional advancement, as well as monetary incentives to either (1) browse Twitter for relevant content or (2) create original posts (“tweets”) on Twitter. The study concludes with follow-up surveys.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Alston, Mackenzie, Tatyana Deryugina and Olga Shurchkov. 2023. "Professional Visibility and Academic Careers." AEA RCT Registry. September 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11807-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Please see pre-analysis plan
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-25
Intervention End Date
2024-01-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Please see pre-analysis plan
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Please see pre-analysis plan

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Please see pre-analysis plan
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Please see pre-analysis plan

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study aims to understand the role of social media use for professional purposes in determining academics’ career outcomes. We will recruit individuals who are (i) at least 18 years old, (ii) use Twitter less than an hour per week or not at all, and (iii) are also active researchers with PhDs (including postdoctoral scholars) or PhD students who have completed their required coursework.

Those who decide to participate will first complete a short survey. We estimate that this survey will take about 10 minutes to complete. A randomly selected subset of the participants will receive periodic emails with suggestions about how to use Twitter effectively for professional advancement and monetary incentives to either (1) browse Twitter for relevant content or (2) create original posts (“tweets”) on Twitter. These incentives will be communicated via email.

We will also ask participants to complete short follow-up surveys over the next few years. These surveys will take about 10 minutes to complete, be incentivized, and participants will receive no more than two surveys per year.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Randomization will be done at the individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
We will send invitations to the survey to around 200,000 email addresses between late August 2023 and January 2024. Assuming a 3% take-up rate, we expect a sample of 6,000 respondents.
Sample size: planned number of observations
We will send invitations to the survey to around 200,000 email addresses between late August 2023 and January 2024. Assuming a 3% take-up rate, we expect a sample of 6,000 respondents.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
We expect around 2,000 respondents in each treatment arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Please see pre-analysis plan
Supporting Documents and Materials

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Brandeis IRB
IRB Approval Date
2023-07-06
IRB Approval Number
23197R
Analysis Plan

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information