Gender Stereotypes and Interventions to Overcome Them

Last registered on March 07, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gender Stereotypes and Interventions to Overcome Them
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015427
Initial registration date
March 04, 2025

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 07, 2025, 8:11 AM 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
Alessandro Castagnetti
Affiliation
University of Verona
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Maria Vittoria Levati
PI Affiliation
University of Verona
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-17
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
C91, D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study will focus on gender stereotypes in mathematics performance, which is considered a stereotypically male activity, and in verbal reasoning, which is stereotypically associated with women. In particolar, on top of assessing the prevalence of gender stereotypes, the experiment aims to test various informational interventions and evaluate their effectiveness in reducing stereotypical perceptions.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Castagnetti, Alessandro and Maria Vittoria Levati. 2025. "Gender Stereotypes and Interventions to Overcome Them." AEA RCT Registry. March 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15427-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The experiment will use a between-subjects design, where the type of information provided to participants about their performance in the math and verbal tests will vary.
Intervention Start Date
2025-03-17
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Main outcome variable: Posterior beliefs about own performance.
Analyses will be performed both pooled and by gender.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The main analyses will consist of studying how beliefs are shaped following the information provision treatments. Thus, the analysis will rely on analysing beliefs both within (prior-posterior beliefs) and between (across treatment groups) .
Analyses will be performed both pooled and by gender.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Whether the subject choose to be paid according to a flat fee or based on task performance (on which they received information).

2. Long term effects of the information provision on beliefs.

3. Spillover effects.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Main Experiment:
Participants will take two tests, which will assess their math and verbal reasoning abilities. After completing the tests, they will be asked to report their prior beliefs about their absolute scores, as well as their beliefs about their relative ranking. After making some decisions, participants will receive information in a between-subject design. Following this, they will be asked to report their updated beliefs about their performance.

Follow-up Experiment:
At least two weeks after completing the main experiment, participants will be invited to take a follow-up survey to assess their confidence in both math and verbal reasoning tests.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Software randomization.
Randomization Unit
Individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1200
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
150 subjects per condition (balanced by gender).
A total of at least 1200 subjects (8 conditions).
If funding is limited, priority will be given to interventions related to information provision for the math test.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comitato per le Ricerche con Dati sull'Individuo (CORDI) - Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università di Verona
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-09
IRB Approval Number
2025-UNVRCLE-0074650
Analysis Plan