Digital skills, university choice and non-cognitive skills: a Randomized Trial

Last registered on August 09, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Digital skills, university choice and non-cognitive skills: a Randomized Trial
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008407
Initial registration date
October 27, 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
November 01, 2021, 10:34 AM EDT

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

Last updated
August 09, 2025, 9:19 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Italy
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Alice Dominici
Affiliation
European University Institute, Department of Economics/Karolinska Institute, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Adriano De Falco
PI Affiliation
European University Institute, Department of Economics
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PI Name
Martina Ferracane
PI Affiliation
European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
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PI Name
Fiammetta Menchetti
PI Affiliation
University of Florence, Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications
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PI Name
Silvia Noirjean
PI Affiliation
University of Florence, Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications
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PI Name
Veronica Ballerini
PI Affiliation
University of Florence, Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-11-01
End date
2022-06-30
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
STEM, grit, creativity, non-cognitive skills
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct an RCT in Italian high schools with different mayors, and we randomize access to digital skill courses. Courses are taken by students for credit, they are standard in format and employ a tested learn-by-doing pedagogical approach, and cover 3D design, 3D printing, and laser cutting: these content in Italy are typically covered by selected STEM courses at the university level. We test whether participation fosters interest in STEM subjects for future university studies, relative occupations, creativity and grit, in separate manuscripts. In particular, we are interested in detecting gender differences in the effect of treatment. The ever-growing demand on the job market for digital skills and STEM degrees makes them important components of pre-university education. However, especially in countries with education systems dominated by humanistic subjects, school curricula fail to include scientific and quantitative subjects to a sufficient degree, and under-expose students to the use of technology, leading to sub-optimal demand for STEM degrees at the university level. This is particularly true for girls, as they tend to engage less with STEM-related education at school even when it is offered, and thus self-select into non-STEM subjects at university (OECD, 2020).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dominici, Alice et al. 2025. "Digital skills, university choice and non-cognitive skills: a Randomized Trial." AEA RCT Registry. August 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8407-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2021-11-15
Intervention End Date
2022-06-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
-Interest for STEM subjects for future university studies
-Interest for STEM-related occupations
-Creativity
-Grit
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See attached Pre-Analysis Plan

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Two experimental groups:

T: Students are offered access to digital skills courses, which are valid for school credit requirements. Courses cover 3D design, 3D printing, laser cutting. Course format can be of 3 different types: long (~20 hrs), short (~10 hrs), hackaton (course + competition): however for institutional constraints, access to different types of treatment is not randomized. For more details, see the attached Pre-Analysis Plan.

C: Students are only offered access to other activities, unrelated to digital skills covered by treatment courses. These placebo activities are observed.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office on a computer (R).
Details on the code used are given in the attached Pre-Analysis Plan.
Randomization Unit
Classes
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
60 classes (assuming an average of 25 pupils per class)
Sample size: planned number of observations
710 pupils
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
42 classes T (0.7*60)
18 classes C (0.3*60)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee, European University Institute
IRB Approval Date
2021-07-29
IRB Approval Number
20210602_Ferracane_etal
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-Analysis Plan

MD5: 931acbae3a8da4f37de48ff743f57ee7

SHA1: 66863ecf4091f608fbf94e6bdb025fd066e9cf4e

Uploaded At: October 27, 2021

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 30, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
June 30, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
42 classes (clusters), 5 schools
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
42 classes (573 students)
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
28 classes treated (409 students) 14 classes control (164 control)
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Creativity and grit are widely recognized as vital components for the success and prosperity of individuals, even more so for younger people who will have to deal with the complex challenges connected to the digital era. Yet, whether these skills can be learnt or are innate traits is still subject to debate, which is further complicated by the difficulty of defining and, in turn, assessing these concepts. In this study, we challenge the idea that creativity and grit cannot be learnt and show that creative pedagogy activities, such as those offered by FabLabs, are powerful tools to enhance these non-cognitive skills. We conduct a randomized controlled trial in which 710 students from five Italian high schools are randomly assigned to creative STEM courses. The courses are delivered by FabLabs, small-scale workshops that offer access to tools for digital fabrication and employ a hands-on pedagogical approach expected to impact students’ creativity and grit positively. Assignment to the courses is at the class level: only students in classes randomly selected to join the Fablab activities can participate, and they may decide whether to enrol or not on a voluntary basis. We address noncompliance by adopting an instrumental variable approach. We use two modalities to measure creativity: a self-assessment through the Short Scale of Creative Self and an assessment made by an independent expert using an index of creativity developed by the authors. While the effect on self-assessed creativity is not significant, results show that the external, independent assessment of students’ creativity can capture a significant effect of Fablabs’ courses. It also emerges that FabLab activities have a positive significant effect on students’ grit, measured through the Duckworth scale. The encouraging results obtained for a relatively small sample of students should prompt a replication of the experiment on a broader scale.
Citation
Ballerini, V., Dominici, A., Ferracane, M. F., Menchetti, F., & Noirjean, S. (2024). Stimulating creativity and grit of high school students with creative STEM activities: an RCT with noncompliance. Quality & Quantity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-024-01992-w
URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-024-01992-w

Reports & Other Materials