Fostering STEM Retention: The Impact of Mentoring and Community Building

Last registered on May 27, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Fostering STEM Retention: The Impact of Mentoring and Community Building
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015775
Initial registration date
May 22, 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
May 27, 2025, 6:53 AM EDT

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

Locations

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

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Alice Danon
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alexandre Grellet
PI Affiliation
J-PAL, PSE
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Quentin Daviot
PI Affiliation
Evalab
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Katharina Kaeppel
PI Affiliation
J-PAL, PSE
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-09-01
End date
2026-12-30
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Despite progress in reducing gender disparities in many fields, the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remains significant across OECD countries. Women represent only about a third of STEM graduates and an even smaller share of the workforce, with those from disadvantaged backgrounds being particularly underrepresented. This persistent gap not only contributes to gender wage disparities (Beede et al., 2011) but may also hinder innovation and economic growth (Hsieh et al., 2019). The underrepresentation of women in STEM begins early, with gendered preferences emerging in primary school, and continues throughout the educational and professional pipeline. At the higher education level, not only do fewer women enroll in STEM fields, but they also drop out at higher rates than men.
This project focuses on the critical dropout stage in the early years of higher education, examining the impact of a mentoring and community-building program designed to support female students in STEM. The mentoring component aims to enhance self-efficacy and facilitate access to internships and professional opportunities through mentor networks and career guidance. The community-building component seeks to foster a stronger sense of belonging in a predominantly male-dominated environment. By assessing the effectiveness of these interventions, this study aims to identify strategies to improve the well-being, retention, and long-term persistence of women in STEM fields.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Danon, Alice et al. 2025. "Fostering STEM Retention: The Impact of Mentoring and Community Building." AEA RCT Registry. May 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15775-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project will evaluate the impact of Article 1’s DEMA1N + STEM project, through a randomized control trial.
Article 1 is an NGO that supports high school and university students from underprivileged backgrounds, ages 16 to 25, by providing them guidance from career orientation through to professional integration with both digital and in-person programs.
In this study, we will focus on a specific project from Article 1 called DEMA1N + STEM. The DEMA1N + STEM project aims to provide young women studying in STEM fields with mentorship support, complemented by a variety of events related to professional integration (STEM Campus, LinkedIn community) as well as social integration tools (student WhatsApp community, beginning of academic year campus, summer campus).
This project targets higher education women from underprivileged backgrounds enrolled in STEM fields, whether it is in universities, private institutions, or vocational schools. Students in this program receive support through mentorship and group activities, including regional and national events, and are part of an online peer community via WhatsApp and LinkedIn groups. For the purpose of this study, we will focus on young women up until Bac +3.
The mentorship program aims to empower women by building their self-confidence and self-efficacy, preventing dropout, and supporting their professional integration through assistance with crafting resumes, writing cover letters, finding internships, and establishing network connections.
Additionally, the online WhatsApp and LinkedIn communities foster a sense of belonging, provide a platform for sharing job opportunities, and offer valuable advice on applications.
Intervention Start Date
2025-09-01
Intervention End Date
2026-12-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Take-up outcomes: attendance and participation in the mentorship sessions, chat groups, and campuses.
Drop out: dummy for the person being still enrolled in post secondary education the following academic year
Grade retention: dummy for the person being enrolled in the next grade the following academic year
Re-orientation: dummy for the person being enrolled in a different field the following academic year
Enrolled in STEM field: dummy for the person being enrolled in STEM field the following academic year
Satisfaction with current studies
Self Efficacy: measuring how much they trust their ability to find an internship and to graduate.
Grit
Depression
Academic and professional aspirations
Sense of belonging
Organizational skills
Internship search and success: Finding internship; Internship is STEM
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The design will be as follows: 1,534 participants will be randomized across treatment and control group, stratifying on:
Week of inscription/Batch
University vs. selective higher education vs. vocational/technical education
Year post-bac (dummy indicating whether they are in the last year of their program)
Grit scale

50% of participants, i.e. 767 participants, will be assigned to the treatment group and receive: mentor, whatsapp group + possibility of attending campuses
50% of participants, i.e. 767 participants, will be assigned to the control group. They will be eligible to receive the treatment 6 months later.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done using Stata
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1,534
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,534
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment arm: 767
Control arm: 767
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Assuming a 20% attrition rate and 80% take-up: power calculations indicate this will enable detecting 0.19 standard deviation impacts of the treatment relative to the control group, with 80% power and alpha of 0.05, assuming baseline variables explain 10% variation of the outcome variables of interest.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Paris School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-07
IRB Approval Number
2025-006
Analysis Plan