Impact of Mentor Program

Last registered on January 26, 2026

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Impact of Mentor Program

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007240

Initial registration date

February 22, 2021

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 22, 2021, 12:05 PM EST

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

Last updated

January 26, 2026, 7:55 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

China

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Fangwen Lu

Affiliation

Peking University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2021-02-23

End date

2022-09-01

Keywords

Behavior, Education

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

Volunteer mentoring for disadvantaged youth is widely recognized as beneficial for youth development. However, relatively little research has examined the effects of online mentoring programs on mentees, and the impact of mentoring experiences on mentors themselves has been largely overlooked. To address these gaps, we organized an online mentoring program that connects students from a top Chinese university with middle school students from rural areas. The study adopts a two-sided randomization design. First, college student applicants were randomly assigned either to serve as mentors for rural students or to a control group. Second, middle school applicants were simultaneously randomized to either receive mentoring or not, allowing us to assess the causal impact of the program on their academic performance. Third, mentors and mentees were randomly matched within the program. Together, this two-sided randomization and matching design enables us to examine the effects of the mentoring program on both mentors and mentees across multiple dimensions, including academic outcomes, non-cognitive abilities, and social preferences.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Lu, Fangwen. 2026. "Impact of Mentor Program." AEA RCT Registry. January 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7240-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We designed an online mentoring program in which college students applied to serve as mentors and middle school students applied to participate as mentees.
College student applicants were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group. The treatment group served as mentors during the spring semester, while the control group did not receive the opportunity to participate during the study period.
Middle school applicants were similarly randomized into treatment and control groups. The treatment group received mentoring in the spring semester, whereas the control group did not.
Mentors were randomly matched with mentees on a one-to-one basis.

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2021-02-27

Intervention End Date

2022-03-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

We examine distinct primary outcomes for each participant group:
Mentors: The key outcome variable is social preferences.
Mentees: The key outcome variable is academic performance and non-academic abilities.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Social Preferences: Elicited through economic games
Academic Performance: evaluated via test scores
Non-congnitive Abilities: elicted through survey questions

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We organized an online mentoring program connecting college student volunteers with rural middle school students. To evaluate the program's impact on both groups, we employed a two-sided randomization design: (1) College applicants were randomly assigned to either a treatment group (serving as mentors in the Spring semester) or a control group (not offered the opportunity to participate during the study period); and (2) Middle school applicants were randomly assigned to either a treatment group (receiving mentoring) or a control group (no mentoring). Within the treatment groups, mentors and mentees were randomly paired on a one-on-one basis. The study primarily measures the impact on mentees' academic performance (via test scores), non-cognitive abilities (via survey questions), and mentors' social preferences (evaluated via economic games). Data was collected through baseline and endline surveys, as well as administrative records.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Stratified randomization is done in office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

Individual students

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

800 middle-school students and 400 college students

Sample size: planned number of observations

800 middle-school students and 400 college students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

The study involves a total of roughly 400 college students (randomized into 200 treatment and 200 control) and 800 middle school students (randomized into 400 treatment and 400 control).

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB