Reducing frictions in adult training uptake: Experimental evidence from enhanced career counselling with digital skills profiling

Last registered on February 24, 2026

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0017931

Initial registration date

February 20, 2026

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

February 24, 2026, 6:26 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

Ioannis Pragidis

Affiliation

Democritus University of Thrace

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

George Panos

PI Affiliation

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2026-02-23

End date

2026-06-30

Keywords

Behavior, Labor

Additional Keywords

Vocational training, career counselling, AI-enabled skills profiling, skills assessment, public employment services, enrollment outcomes

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

C93, J24, I21, J68, O33

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

We are studying whether an enhanced career counselling service can help jobseekers choose and start vocational training more effectively. In some counselling sessions, participants receive the standard support that employment services already provide. In other sessions, counsellors also use an AI-enabled skills-profiling tool that helps participants identify and visualise their skills and match them to suitable training options. We will compare these approaches to see whether the enhanced service increases participation in vocational training within the months after counselling.

We expect the enhanced counselling could increase participation because it makes skills and job goals more concrete, helps people identify training that fits their profile, and reduces common barriers such as uncertainty about which course is right, limited information about options, and the effort required to search and apply. By improving the match between the person and the training program and by strengthening confidence and clarity about next steps, the enhanced service may make it more likely that people follow through and enrol.

People who take part will be asked a short set of questions at the time of counselling and may be contacted later for a brief follow-up. Where possible, we will also use administrative records from training providers or public services to measure whether participants actually enrolled in training. The study is aimed to be carried out in multiple locations, and participation is voluntary. However, only public employment services in Baden-Württemberg have confirmed participation in the experiment.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Panos, George and Ioannis Pragidis. 2026. "Reducing frictions in adult training uptake: Experimental evidence from enhanced career counselling with digital skills profiling." AEA RCT Registry. February 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17931-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2026-02-23

Intervention End Date

2026-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary endpoint is verified participation in vocational education and training, measured as whether an individual enrolls in any VET programme within 60 days of the counselling session using training provider and, where available, public employment service administrative records. Key secondary outcomes include enrollment within extended follow-up windows of 90, 120, and 150 days, the time elapsed from counselling to enrollment or start, subsequent training status such as starting, withdrawing, or completing and the associated dates, and core characteristics of the programme attended, including provider, location, delivery mode, and intensity. In addition, the study will measure intention to enroll through a post-counselling elicitation of the respondent’s subjective probability of enrolling within 60 days on a 0–100 scale, complemented by a projective peer forecast and a measure of the main perceived constraint to enrollment. When administrative confirmation is incomplete, these intention and mechanism measures will also serve as survey-based outcomes to assess behavioural pathways and to characterize treatment effects in settings where verified enrollment data are partially unavailable.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The study is a multi-site field experiment in which individuals who attend career counselling services are assigned to receive either the standard counselling offered by the service provider or an enhanced counselling session that incorporates an AI-enabled skills profiling component to support skills identification and training matching. Assignment occurs at the individual level after participants provide informed consent, using a prespecified random allocation procedure designed to ensure approximately equal splits between the two conditions within each study site. Participants complete a brief baseline questionnaire at the time of counselling, followed by a short post-session questionnaire that measures intended take-up and perceived barriers. The primary outcome is subsequent enrollment in vocational training within a defined follow-up window, measured primarily using administrative records from training providers and, where feasible, public employment service registries, with additional follow-up measurement through participant surveys when administrative confirmation is incomplete. The study will be implemented in multiple locations, and the analysis will compare outcomes across the two counselling conditions, with pre-specified extensions of the follow-up window to capture later enrollments and related training status outcomes.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

3 counselling sites/centres (Borås, Baden-Württemberg, and Tuscany), with random assignment at the individual level rather than cluster randomization.

Sample size: planned number of observations

300 individuals per site

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

200 individuals control, 200 individuals treatment (per site)

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

IRB Approval Date

IRB Approval Number

Analysis Plan