The role of ability signals for SES differences in educational and occupational sorting

Last registered on November 19, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The role of ability signals for SES differences in educational and occupational sorting
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014822
Initial registration date
November 19, 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
November 19, 2024, 4:45 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Pia Pinger
Affiliation
Uni Cologne
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Fabian Kosse
PI Affiliation
University of Würzburg
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PI Name
Armin Falk
PI Affiliation
University of Bonn
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2011-09-01
End date
2028-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
ability signals, socio-economic status, inequality
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project investigates (i) how socio-economic inequalities arise because ability signals received differ by parental background conditional on true ability; (ii) how socio-economic inequalities arise because of differences in the interpretation of ability signals leading to differences in educational and occupational decision-making; (iii) the extent to which access to a high SES role model reduces inequalities of opportunity caused by differences in obtained signals or their interpretation.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Falk, Armin, Fabian Kosse and Pia Pinger. 2024. "The role of ability signals for SES differences in educational and occupational sorting." AEA RCT Registry. November 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14822-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention is a mentoring program that took place during the period 2011-2013. Low SES households in Cologne and Bonn with children aged 7-9 were the target group of the mentoring program.
Intervention Start Date
2011-10-01
Intervention End Date
2013-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Academic self-concept, recollection of grades, how well individuals think they can assess their academic performance, educational and/or occupational/labor market status, plans regarding one's future education/occupation.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Academic self-concept will be aggregated using a summary score of five measures

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Grades, teacher feedback. educational aspirations, academic self-assessment of parents and children, track choice, plans for the future throughout elementary and secondary school.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
To be eligible for treatment, low SES households had to participate in the baseline interviews (Fall 2011) and provide written consent to allow for the transmission of their addresses to the organization running the mentoring program (Balu und Du e.V.). Out of 590 eligible families (those interested in the program and classified as low-SES), 212 were randomly selected and form the intention-to-treat (ITT) group and were offered to take part in a mentoring program (Treatment Low SES), while the remaining 378 form the control group (Control Low SES). We used stratified random treatment assignment to ensure a proportional representation of all forms of pre-defined disadvantage (low income, low education, single parenthood) in the ITT group, while ensuring that the number of selected children matched the local supply of mentors. The combination of the three forms of disadvantage and two regions yields fourteen strata. As second control group, we also invited (in the same period) 150 randomly-chosen high SES families (among those who had responded to the information letter) to take part in the study (Control High SES). All families (Treatment low SES, Control low SES, Control high SES) who had participated in the pre-treatment data collection were invited to take part in the post-treatment data collections.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization was done by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
The initial sample in the bfp contains around 700 children and their families. We expect to collect data from around 480 individuals (the children) in the follow-up data collection.
Sample size: planned number of observations
The initial sample in the bfp contains around 700 children and their families. We expect to collect data from around 480 individuals (the children) in the follow-up data collection.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
212 children were randomly selected to be treated (“treatment group”), the remaining 378 children form the control group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (ERC-FMES)
IRB Approval Date
2023-10-16
IRB Approval Number
230056PP
Analysis Plan

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