Mentorship networks and the early career outcomes of college-educated women

Last registered on October 19, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Mentorship networks and the early career outcomes of college-educated women
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012396
Initial registration date
January 03, 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
January 09, 2024, 10:42 AM EST

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

Last updated
October 19, 2024, 4:18 PM 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
Ana Paula Melo
Affiliation
Howard University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ursula Mello
PI Affiliation
INSPER
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PI Name
Maria Oaquim
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-11-13
End date
2026-07-31
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Can mentorship programs improve women's job search and early career outcomes? We will run a randomized controlled trial to evaluate an online one-to-one mentorship program targeted at female college students and early career women, with the majority being from socially vulnerable groups. We hypothesize that structured one-to-one mentoring programs increase self-confidence, networks, and job search readiness and, consequently, improve labor market outcomes of college-educated women, particularly from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Mello, Ursula , Ana Paula Melo and Maria Oaquim. 2024. "Mentorship networks and the early career outcomes of college-educated women." AEA RCT Registry. October 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12396-2.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our trial will randomize access to a one-to-one mentorship program on soft skill training and career development.
Intervention Start Date
2024-01-23
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Self-confidence, job search readiness, professional networks, employment, job quality, earnings.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Self-confidence is an index with four questions based on Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1989). Question are: (i) I have a number of good qualities; (ii) I feel like a failure; (iii) I am able to do things as well as most other people; (iv) on the whole, I feel satisfied with myself.
Job search readiness is an index made with self-reported job search readiness (ability to find job openings they are interested in applying for, prepare resumes, and deliver a job interview pitch) and a third-party evaluation of their CV and LinkedIn profile. The inclusion of this variable is pending funding for hiring graders. We will not include these evaluations if there are more than 50% of missing values.

Job Quality: index based on five questions (formality status, job fits qualifications scale, job provide skill development opportunities scale, job with high salary growth potential scale, job amenities)

Earnings: base salary plus bonus



We will exclude survey questions for which over 90 percent of observations in the control group have the same value. When the question is part of an index, the question will be excluded, and the index will be calculated based on the remaining questions. If the question is the outcome or all the questions within an index have low variability, we will exclude the outcome and not test the corresponding hypothesis.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Role models, new goals and possibilities, salary expectations (reservation wages, salary expectation, would accept a job paying less than the expected salary), negotiation attitudes, job search efficacy, use of networks, bargaining power (successfully negotiated offer), human capital investment and career satisfaction.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Negotiation attitudes: index combining three survey questions in a Likert scale (fear of looking greedy if negotiating a wage increase, fear of losing a job opportunity because of trying to negotiate the salary, and if they are willing to negotiate their job offers)

Job search efficacy: index with two measures (ratio between interviews and applications, ratio between offers and applications)
Use of networks: index with four survey question (number of job search allies, got job through referral, knew employer and job discovery source)

Human capital investment: index with two questions (pursuing additional education and college degree)

We will exclude survey questions for which over 90 percent of observations in the control group have the same value. When the question is part of an index, the question will be excluded, and the index will be calculated based on the remaining questions. If the question is the outcome or all the questions within an index have low variability, we will exclude the outcome and not test the corresponding hypothesis.
New goals and possibilities: index combining three survey items (intend to pursue alternative career options, intend to pursue post-graduate studies, and intend to move to a different city or state).

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our experimental design is a stratified random allocation of applicants into receiving an offer to the mentorship and not receiving an offer to the mentorship among the final list of eligible applicants.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
1139 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
589 ever offered a mentorship spot and 550 never offered a mentorship spot
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Employment: 11.8% Wages: 16.9%
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Princeton University Research Integrity and Assurance
IRB Approval Date
2023-11-09
IRB Approval Number
IRB# 15829
IRB Name
INSPER Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2023-11-06
IRB Approval Number
N. 316/2023
Analysis Plan

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