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Hiring Prospects of Online Education: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Last registered on November 07, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Does online certification on a CV make a difference for a potential employer?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003538
Initial registration date
November 07, 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
November 07, 2018, 6:35 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Olga Churkina
Affiliation
Georgia State University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Omar Isaac Asensio
PI Affiliation
Georgia Institute of Technology
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PI Name
Ross Rubenstein
PI Affiliation
Georgia State University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-02-01
End date
2019-06-01
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The present research is intended to study the effect of having an online specialization certification on a CV on the potential employers’ job posting response rates. The research idea is based on the widely acknowledged discrimination practices in the labor market and also speaks to the growing interest in the future of online education opportunities. The project implements the randomized controlled trials (RCT) to evaluate and inform job candidates as well as the MOOC platforms of potential benefits (or absence of those) of online certification as from the potential employers’ standpoint.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Asensio, Omar Isaac, Olga Churkina and Ross Rubenstein. 2018. "Does online certification on a CV make a difference for a potential employer?." AEA RCT Registry. November 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3538-1.0
Former Citation
Asensio, Omar Isaac, Olga Churkina and Ross Rubenstein. 2018. "Does online certification on a CV make a difference for a potential employer?." AEA RCT Registry. November 07. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3538/history/36930
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-02-01
Intervention End Date
2019-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The response rates to the CVs sent to the job postings in the forms of call-backs and e-mails offering to participate in the next step of the hiring process or conduct the interview.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The design is similar to the paper: Bertrand M., Mullainathan S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. The American Economic Review, 94(4), 991-1013.

The treatment group consists of fictitious applicants’ CVs with an online specialization certification on them while the control group includes the ones whose CVs don’t include this proof of the extra skills, holding every other applicant’s characteristics equal. The instruments include four variations of the CVs by the job applicant’s gender and regarding presence/absence of the online specialization certification on their CVs.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual job applications
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
10,800 job applications
Sample size: planned number of observations
10,800 job applications
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The sample size has to consist of 2,700 job applications in each group: male applicants with online specialization certification on their CVs, male applicants without online specialization certification on their CVs, female applicants with online specialization certification on their CVs, female applicants without online specialization certification on their CVs.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Georgia State University's Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2018-07-24
IRB Approval Number
H18648
Analysis Plan

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