Parental Awareness and Students' Track Choices

Last registered on March 06, 2024

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Parental Awareness and Students' Track Choices

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0012978

Initial registration date

February 20, 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

March 06, 2024, 2:40 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

Germany

Region

Bavaria

Primary Investigator

Name

Maximilian Müller

Affiliation

Toulouse School of Economics

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Lea Cassar

PI Affiliation

Universität Regensburg

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Christina Felfe

PI Affiliation

Universität Konstanz

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Denise Feigl

PI Affiliation

Universität Regensburg

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2024-02-29

End date

2025-04-30

Keywords

Behavior, Education, Gender, Labor

Additional Keywords

Psychology, Sociology, Family

JEL code(s)

I24 - Education and Inequality, J62 - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility, D91 - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making, J16 Economics of Gender, J24 Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.

Abstract

During information evenings about the upcoming choice of tracks at the end of 6th grade, we will provide attendants with information on how strongly girls and boys adjust their aspirations for vocational trainings in the STEM fields when these aspirations are to be discussed with parents rather than staying confidential. We will analyze whether the provision of this information affects eventual track choices.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Cassar, Lea et al. 2024. "Parental Awareness and Students' Track Choices." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12978-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention (Hidden)

In this context, students have to choose a track at the end of 6th grade. They can choose between the following tracks: 1) maths, natural sciences, technology; 2) business/accounting; 3) languages (French as 2nd language). Some schools also offer additional tracks in artistic-creative or domestic or social fields.

Before families have to make a choice, each school offers an information evening. At this information evening, the responsible teacher will provide some information that is based on previous research we conducted as part of the RCT registered as "THE ORIGINS OF CAREER CHOICES OF STUDENTS IN LOWER EDUCATIONAL TRACKS". There we found that girls shy away from STEM when their aspirations are to be discussed with their parents, whereas boy move towards STEM in this case.

We have designed a simple comic and infographic displaying this tendency, together with recommendations to the parents to arrange a conversation with their children about the upcoming choice, in which parents can listen to their children's interests and worries around this choice and then try to find the best solution in the interest of the child.

Intervention Start Date

2024-02-29

Intervention End Date

2024-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Track Choice: which track do students choose (in particular: STEM or not)?

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Extra information vs. no extra information: at the school level.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

School

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

10 schools

Sample size: planned number of observations

Between 900 and 1,100 students.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

5 schools control, 5 schools additional information; around 450 students in control and 450 students in treatment "additional information".

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

Approximate based on assuming 900 students: - MDE overall: 7.96pp difference (from baseline around 20%) [for baseline of 30%: 8.9pp]. - MDE among female students: 11.52pp

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB