Entrepreneurial Mindset Development Program Curriculum in Andhra Pradesh

The importance of entrepreneurial skills extends beyond individuals who aspire to enter the business world. With the evolving nature of most high-return jobs, there is a growing need for an entrepreneurial mindset of labor that encompasses a range of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. However, there is a lack of data and experimental evidence on whether an entrepreneurial mindset can be instilled (especially in high school students), whether the current at-scale implementation has been effective, their impact on entrepreneurial traits, and whether such skills are effective in closing the existing skill gaps across genders. To address this gap, we leverage a unique opportunity to work with the Government of Andhra Pradesh on the rollout of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Development Program (EMDP). The program consists of a special curriculum, which is delivered to Grade 9 students over 220 working days, to train students on their entrepreneurial mindset. Working closely with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the implementing NGOs, we aim to assess the program’s impact on the students’ entrepreneurial mindset, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, their ability to prepare and deliver an entrepreneurial idea, their hypothetical choice of labor, choice of major going forward, and their intention to pursue work that is different from traditional labor (i.e. not self-employed). %The novelty of our work is that using incentivized experiments we elicit various behavioral factors often associated with entrepreneurship, to make the connection of whether such programs can behaviorally shape students from a young age.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Amaral, Sofia et al. 2024. "Entrepreneurial Mindset Development Program Curriculum in Andhra Pradesh." AEA RCT Registry. January 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12702-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The program featured a unique curriculum aimed at equipping Grade 9 students with
entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. Delivered throughout the academic year, it engaged
students with real-life scenarios to prepare them for various professional environments,
including corporations, startups, or family businesses.
The curriculum includes 18 modules that cover some of the following topics: perseverance,
problem identification, solution creativity, growth mindset, communication, critical
thinking, and grit. Each module had goals such as promoting curiosity, learning-by-doing,
acceptance of failures, risk assessment, and building a learning community.

Intervention Start Date

2022-04-01

Intervention End Date

2024-03-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. General Behavioral traits: The program’s main aim is to go beyond standard academic
education, seeking to trigger various behavioral changes among students. This
study focuses primarily on evaluating behavioral traits that are generally associated
with success in the labor market: such as aspirations, creativity, collaborative skills,
and internal locus of control. Additionally, we are examining broader traits like the
Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism,
and openness), which have relevance in a wider context beyond entrepreneurship.
These behavioral traits are our main outcomes, and their scales are provided
in the appendix. These traits include Aspirations (academic); Locus of Control (Internal
and External); Collaboration (Relationship and Team work); Agency (relating
to education, personal and career); and Goal Setting.

2. Enterprenuerial Behavior: General traits as discussed above are equally important for
an entrepreneurial mindset but additional traits commonly observed in entrepreneurs
are also important. For example, entrepreneurs are often recognized for their risk-taking
nature, their self-perceived ability, and aspirations to start a business. Within
the entrepreneurial behavioral traits, we encompass a collection of five specific outcomes
closely linked to entrepreneurs. These include Business Aspirations; Self-
Perceived Business Ability; Business Mathematics Skills; Risk-Taking; and Patience.
While the former three are evaluated through survey questions, the latter two are assessed
using experimental games. These five traits are pivotal indicators associated
with a business-oriented mindset, collectively categorized as our primary outcomes.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Pitch Quality; students’ achievements and their attendance

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We have randomly assigned 50 subdistricts to act as a control group. All schools in the control school do not receive EMDP. All the remaining schools in the state receive EMDP. We sampled 100 subdistricts (the 50 in the control group and 50 from the treatment group) across the state to conduct surveys and experiments.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Computer

Randomization Unit

Subdistrict (mandal)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

100

Sample size: planned number of observations

Students from 1 class for every grade in a school.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

50 mandals in control, 50 mandals in treatment

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

NYU AD

IRB Approval Date

2023-09-27

IRB Approval Number

HRPP-2023-157

IRB Name

JHO

IRB Approval Date

2023-12-01

IRB Approval Number

17941

IRB Name

Data and Analytic Insights

IRB Approval Date

2023-05-24

IRB Approval Number

N/A

Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-Analysis Plan EMDP

MD5: fdb573466fe2a3c8b7228c53c0cbb52a

SHA1: 98d371700d7f5e80c2818c83b82287720bc18833

Uploaded At: January 08, 2024