Cultural gender norms and occupational choice

Last registered on July 11, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Cultural gender norms and occupational choice
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016307
Initial registration date
July 03, 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
July 11, 2025, 2:37 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Italy
Region
Country
Poland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Natalie Irmert
Affiliation
Lund University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-07-07
End date
2025-08-31
Keywords
Behavior, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Over the last decades, many western economies have experienced a decline in the employment share of traditionally male-dominated occupations, such as manufacturing, while traditionally female-dominated occupations show the highest growth rates. Yet, men seem reluctant to enter such occupations. This project investigates whether cultural gender norms about occupations, that is a society’s perception of what is appropriate work for men and women, contribute to persistent gender-stereotypical occupational choice. In particular, I run a vignette survey experiment in two countries to investigate perceptions of men and women working in counter-stereotypical occupations. The results aim to shed light on whether there are asymmetries in the social perception of men in female-dominated vs. women in male-dominated occupations.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Irmert, Natalie. 2025. "Cultural gender norms and occupational choice." AEA RCT Registry. July 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16307-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-07-07
Intervention End Date
2025-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
2 standardized indices: fit-to-aspiration index, fit-to-occupation index
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study uses an online survey in two countries to examine how social perceptions of individuals in gender-typical and atypical occupations vary across countries with different levels of occupational gender segregation. Each respondents is shown six vignettes describing individuals in a female-dominated, a male-dominated, and a gender neutral occupation - each shown with both male and female names - and is asked to evaluate the portrayed individuals on eight perception indicators. The survey elicits both personal perceptions and second-order beliefs (i.e., what respondents think others believe).
Each respondent is shown all six vignettes. In the analysis, I will compare how respondents perceive individuals in gender-typical vs. atypical occupations.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
There is no randomization into treatment and control group. Instead, all respondents are shown all vignettes and the analysis will compare whether there are, on average, differences in the perceptions of individuals portrayed in a gender-typical vs. gender-atypical occupation.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1,000 respondents per country
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,000 respondents per country
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
each respondents is shown all vignettes
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.1 standard deviations (outcome variable: standardized indices) in one-country analysis, 0.2 standard deviations in interacted two-country analysis
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials