The Impact of Secondary School Scholarships on Girls’ Skill Development and Female Empowerment in Niger

Last registered on January 25, 2019

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The Impact of Secondary School Scholarships on Girls’ Skill Development and Female Empowerment in Niger

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003296

Initial registration date

January 22, 2019

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

January 25, 2019, 3:37 AM EST

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

Locations

Country

Niger

Region

Dosso, Tahoua, Tillabéri, Zinder, Maradi

Primary Investigator

Name

Elise Huillery

Affiliation

Sciences Po

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Hélène Giacobino

PI Affiliation

J-PAL Europe

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Bastien Michel

PI Affiliation

Aarhus University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2017-09-01

End date

2023-06-30

Keywords

Education, Gender

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

I22; I25; I31; J12; J13; J16; J24; O15

Secondary IDs

The Sahel Women Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project

Abstract

In many developing countries, gender inequalities begin at a young age and influence individuals’ long-term trajectories. In particular, social norms can lead to girls dropping out of school, marrying, and having children early in life. Women with less education may then experience reduced empowerment and limited job opportunities. In turn, this can create a cycle of gender inequality: participating less in the labor force may increase economic dependence on men, and strengthen the social norms that contribute to women dropping out of school. Can encouraging girls to stay in school and to develop skills improve their future economic and social trajectories? In order to answer these questions, we evaluate the impact of secondary school scholarships for girls on skill development, empowerment, and job opportunities.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Giacobino, Hélène, Elise Huillery and Bastien Michel. 2019. "The Impact of Secondary School Scholarships on Girls’ Skill Development and Female Empowerment in Niger." AEA RCT Registry. January 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3296-1.0

Former Citation

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

In partnership with the Government of Niger, the National Institute of Statistics, and the World Bank, we are evaluating the impact of scholarships on girls’ educational attainment, female empowerment, and economic opportunities. The scholarship seeks to improve girls’ hard skills, including vocational training, to put them on a more equal track with men.

The Toutes les Filles à l’École program (TFE) provides scholarships to girls without a secondary school in their village. As secondary school is free, the scholarship covers housing and food costs during all three years of school. To be eligible girls must meet a minimum grade average and come from a vulnerable family. The scholarship provides FCFA 180,000 (US$335) over nine monthly transfers during the school year for living expenses. Host families for female students receive 15,000 FCFA (US$28) each month for hosting. Girls’ families receive the additional 5.000 FCFA (US$9) per month.

Intervention Start Date

2017-10-01

Intervention End Date

2022-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Educational attainment; Marital status; Number of children; Women empowerment.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Two cohorts of eligible girls are tracked: the first cohort is made of eligible girls entering secondary school in 2017/2018; the second cohort is made of eligible girls entering secondary school in 2018/2019.

For each cohort, around 285 villages were selected to participate in the experiment and were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups:
- All scholarships provided: every girl eligible for a scholarship received support.
- Mixed group: a randomly selected half of all eligible girls received a scholarship while the other half did not receive one.
- Comparison group: no girls received scholarships.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization was done in office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

First, we randomized villages in one of the three above-mentioned groups.
Second, in mixed group villages, 50% of the girls eligible to benefit from the scholarship were randomly selected to receive the scholarship.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Around 285 villages per cohort. Up to 570 villages in total.

Sample size: planned number of observations

Around 2,400 girls per cohort. Up to 4,800 girls in total.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

For each cohort:
- Around 95 control villages accounting for around 800 girls
- Around 95 treatment villages accounting for 800 girls
- Around 95 mixed villages accounting for 800 girls (400 receiving the scholarship and 400 not receiving the scholarship)

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB