Gender Debiasing the Workplace: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Workshops in Ethiopia

Last registered on July 12, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gender Debiasing the Workplace: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Workshops in Ethiopia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013878
Initial registration date
June 25, 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
June 25, 2024, 2:13 PM EDT

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

Last updated
July 12, 2024, 10:25 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Livia Alfonsi
Affiliation
Harvard Business School
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Christian Meyer
PI Affiliation
Oxford University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Simon Franklin
PI Affiliation
Queen Mary University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-12-01
End date
2025-09-01
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
Gender Debiasing, Hiring Practices, Cognitive Biases
JEL code(s)
J16, J20, M5, O12
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We propose to evaluate the impact of a gender debiasing program on hiring and training among formal firms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As part of a large-scale government program that will connect low-skill youths to apprenticeships in local firms, firm managers participate in a series of workshops that address common cognitive biases that may lead to gender-biased treatment in the workplace: selection neglect, attribution bias, and environment design bias. By varying whether firms receive the training prior or after candidate selection, we can separately study how the program changes the selection and training of young workers. Using rich administrative data on firm preferences over different candidates and primary data that we collect through surveys and observation, we will study how the program affects cognitive biases among managers, firm hiring practices, and downstream outcomes of firms and apprentices.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Alfonsi, Livia, Simon Franklin and Christian Meyer. 2024. "Gender Debiasing the Workplace: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Workshops in Ethiopia." AEA RCT Registry. July 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13878-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our intervention is a gender debiasing program on hiring and training among conducted through three one-hour interactive workshops with managers in small and medium-sized formal firms in Addis Ababa.
Intervention Start Date
2024-01-01
Intervention End Date
2024-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Domain 1: Workforce Composition and Investment in Female Talent
- HIring
- Training
- Retention
Domain 2: Workplace Environment
- Gender-sensitive working arrangements
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Domain 3: Attitudes and Beliefs
- Firm owners’ beliefs about women’s productivity
- Selection neglect
- Attribution bias
- Environment-design bias
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The firms in our sample are all engaged in an apprenticeship program organised by the Government of Ethiopia as part of a large-scale active labor market policy. As such, these firms are all actively engaged in the selection, recruitment, induction, and training of new short-term employees at the time of the interventions. At the end of the period, they must decide whether to retain the apprentice as a full-time employee. This setting provides an ideal setting in which to measure the effects of debiasing program for two main reasons, i) all firms will be actively grappling with the issues raised in the training, and ii) we will be able to measure the effects of the training directly on new apprentices, as well as incumbent workers within the firm.
We randomly assign firms to receive the gender debiasing training either pre or post interviewing and recruitment of apprentices. By studying the recruitment margin and the composition of apprentices in the pre group, we will be able to test whether the training affects firm bias in the selection of workers, independent of other effects on the workplace in environment.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
firm
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
1500 firms
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethiopian Society of Sociologists, Social Workers, and Anthropologists
IRB Approval Date
2020-10-20
IRB Approval Number
ESSSWA/L/AA/0386/20
IRB Name
University of Oxford
IRB Approval Date
2023-02-13
IRB Approval Number
protocol ECONCIA22-23-13
Analysis Plan

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

Request Information