Mentoring program for women economics students

Last registered on August 02, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Mentoring program for women economics students
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003396
Initial registration date
October 09, 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
October 10, 2018, 8:38 PM EDT

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

Last updated
August 02, 2022, 8:02 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region
Canberra
Country
Australia
Region
Canberra

Primary Investigator

Name
Harry Greenwell
Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Scott Copley
PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Scott Copley
PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA)
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-08-20
End date
2019-09-29
Keywords
Education, Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The aim of this mentoring program is to encourage and motivate more women to continue their studies in economics and be inspired to seek careers as economists. First- and second-year women economics students at an Australian university were be eligible to apply for the program. This research project will evaluate the implementation of the mentoring program and will seek to comment on its impact.

The evaluation of the program implementation will be undertaken through a mixture of survey questions and qualitative research, either focus groups or interviews.

The program's impact will be evaluated through a randomised controlled trial (RCT) however this study does not have sufficient power to have a good chance of detecting an effect, if there is one. Therefore, we are treating this study as a pilot that can inform future, larger-scale RCT evaluations of this program.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Copley, Scott, Scott Copley and Harry Greenwell. 2022. "Mentoring program for women economics students." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3396-3.0
Former Citation
Copley, Scott, Scott Copley and Harry Greenwell. 2022. "Mentoring program for women economics students." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3396/history/151790
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention involves participation in a 12-month mentoring program. The aim of the program is to increase the propensity for mentees to complete economic studies and pursue a career in economics. Mentors are professional, mid-level or senior, women economists. The program is intended to comprise 4 meetings over 12 months but is likely to vary. We will measure differences in ‘dosage’ through surveys of mentors and/or mentees.
Intervention Start Date
2018-09-19
Intervention End Date
2019-09-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We will use four closely related primary outcome variables to detect the propensity for students to complete economic studies.
• Intention to proceed to next year of econ studies (survey data, 5-point Likert scale)
• Intention to complete an economics major (survey data, 5-point Likert scale)
• Proportion who proceed to next year of econ studies in 2020 (admin data, based on enrolments in compulsory 2nd or 3rd year economics courses)
• Proportion who complete an economics major (admin data)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We will also analyse results for the following mediator variables that, we assume, should drive the ultimate (primary) outcomes sought by the mentoring program:
• Attractiveness of a career based on economics qualifications (ie, at least an economics major),
• Perceived breadth of career options available to economics graduates, and
• Perceived level of interest and relevance of economics studies.
As noted above, we will also capture various subjective outcomes including confidence, knowledge and satisfaction with economics.
See the baseline survey – attached to the pre-analysis plan – for details of how survey based outcomes will be measured.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This is a two-arm, stratified design. We stratified on three binary variables:
• Year group (ie, we separated 1st year and 2nd year students),
• Domestic/international student status, and
• Degree of study (enrolled in a Bachelor of Economics, or not)..
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Within each stratum, we randomised using simple randomization using a random number generator. A fixed proportion (5/8) of students were assigned to treatment - the mentoring program - with the remainder assigned to control. The fixed proportion was determined by the number of available mentors (55) divided by the number of applicants (88).
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomisation was the individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
88 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
88 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
55 in treatment, 33 in control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
This is a pilot study and is not powered to detect plausible effect sizes, if the program does in fact have an effect.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
ANU Human Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2018-08-08
IRB Approval Number
Human Ethics Protocol 2018/513
IRB Name
ANU Human Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2018-08-08
IRB Approval Number
Human Ethics Protocol 2018/513
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
September 29, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
September 29, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
88 students
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Yes
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
88 students
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
33 students in control, 55 students in mentoring program
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Yes
Program Files URL
https://osf.io/a57vh/
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials

Description
Results Report
Citation
Copley, Scott, Scott Copley and Harry Greenwell. 2022. "Mentoring program for women economics students." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. 2022. "Registration Entry Title: Results Report." AEA RCT Registry. August 02 https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3396-3.0
File
women-economics-students-mentoring-program.pdf

MD5: c7ef69543fc7b928256b08585567534c

SHA1: 18c9e97d8d5d42840c79f9383f79f2edc5b42f63

Uploaded At: August 02, 2022