Spare-time job search assistance for disadvantaged youth in Denmark

Last registered on August 03, 2021
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Spare-time job search assistance for disadvantaged youth in Denmark
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002767
Initial registration date
March 13, 2018

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 14, 2018, 4:51 PM EDT

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

Last updated
August 03, 2021, 8:50 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Denmark
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Anna Piil Damm
Affiliation
Aarhus University, Department of Economics and Business Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2014-02-20
End date
2023-06-30
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
Spare-time jobs, Leisure-time jobs, Youth, Teenagers, Character skills, Life skills, Human capital, Crime, Juvenile Delinquency, Risky behavior
JEL code(s)
J2, J24, J49
Secondary IDs
Abstract
A spare-time job may foster character skills in the same way as workplace-based programs that teach character skills. Therefore, a spare-time job may have non-pecuniary and cumulative benefits in the form of skill formation, especially behavioral or character skills that can be transferred for use in other domains of life, including schooling and education, i.e. life-skills. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to test this hypothesis. Our intervention randomizes spare-time job search assistance from youth club workers to pupils in the 7th to 10th grade in lower-secondary school who are at risk of not completing an upper secondary education and for whom it is difficult to find a spare-time job on their own.
.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Damm, Anna Piil. 2021. "Spare-time job search assistance for disadvantaged youth in Denmark." AEA RCT Registry. August 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2767-1.1
Former Citation
Damm, Anna Piil. 2021. "Spare-time job search assistance for disadvantaged youth in Denmark." AEA RCT Registry. August 03. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2767/history/97051
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our intervention randomizes spare-time job search assistance from youth club workers to pupils in the 7th to 10th grade in lower-secondary school who are at risk of not completing an upper secondary education and for whom it is difficult to find a spare-time job on their own.
Intervention (Hidden)
The research team has designed an Aarhus University Executive course in collaboration with Aarhus Municipality to educate Youth Club teachers as spare-time job coaches. The course content is practical tools for job search as well as ”The motivating conversation”, coaching and Life Psychology adapted to coach lower-secondary pupils about spare-time jobs through action-based learning. Course format:
4.5 days of class-room learning, video-recordings of training in club, face-to-face and online peer and instructor feedback, self-reflection, graduation ceremony and official Aarhus University Executive course certificate. Estimated time use: 52 hours.
Youth Clubs are offered the Aarhus University Executive course for free as part of the intervention.
Youth Clubs that volunteer have to sign up 2 teachers the youth club.
The research team then randomly assigns 1 teacher from each club to partipate in the Executive course this year (T-Group); the 2nd teacher from the Youth Club is guaranteed a slot in our course next year (C-group).
After the T-group teachers have completed the main part of the course, the Youth Clubs recruit pupils in the target group; each Youth Club aims at recruiting 10 pupils in the target group.
The research team then randomly assigns recruited pupils to the T or C-group teacher in club. The recruited pupils have at least one meeting with their supervisor about how to find a spare-time job. T-group pupils also receive advice on how to keep their spare-time job once hired.
The data for effect evaluation consists of
1) pre- and post-intervention surveys (used to evaluate short-term effects, mediators and moderators) and
2) administrative registers from Statistics Denmark (used to evaluate medium-term effects)
The data for investigation of efficacy or treatment fidelity stem from an electronic logbook used by the Youth Club teachers during the period of spare-job search assistance to pupils.
Intervention Start Date
2016-08-29
Intervention End Date
2018-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Grades obtained at the school exit exam in the 9th grade, school absence and criminal behavior, grasp of life and enrollment in and completion of upper-secondary education.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Career aspirations and substance abuse.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Two teachers from each Youth Club in the trial cooperate to recruit pupils in the target group. The research team has randomly assigned one of the two teachers to take an executive course on spare-time job search assistance and coaching before the start of recruitment of pupils (the T-group teacher). The other teacher cannot take the course until after the end of the intervention (the C-group teacher). The recruited pupils from each club are randomly assigned to receipt of spare-time job search assistance from one of the two teachers.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual randomization within each youth club.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
250 pupils.
Sample size: planned number of observations
250 pupils.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
250 pupils.
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

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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

Request Information

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