Unlocking young women’s minds at scale? - Evidence from urban India

Last registered on May 11, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Unlocking young women’s minds at scale? - Evidence from urban India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009977
Initial registration date
August 29, 2022

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
August 29, 2022, 2:17 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 11, 2023, 9:17 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
Urban Northern India

Primary Investigator

Name
Ankush Asri
Affiliation
University of Konstanz
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Viola Asri
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Anke Hoeffler
PI Affiliation
University of Konstanz
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-04-25
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
education, career choices, female labor force participation, social norms, India
JEL code(s)
O10, O15, C93, I26, J13, J16
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In contexts with rigid gender norms and low female labor force participation, young women tend to lack professional role models, have limited awareness of their strengths and interests, and lack exposure to a variety of career options. While students in expensive schools or from affluent families can easily access career counseling, students from socio-economically weaker groups lack this type of guidance. We examine whether and to what extent a career guidance program that advises disadvantaged young women in groups can influence their career plans, selection of professional objectives, and choices after finishing school (primary), as well as their locus of control and confidence (secondary). Working with 12th graders from senior secondary schools in a large city in India, we will use a clustered randomized controlled trial with treatment assignment at the school level to assess the short- and medium-term impact.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Asri, Ankush, Viola Asri and Anke Hoeffler. 2023. "Unlocking young women’s minds at scale? - Evidence from urban India ." AEA RCT Registry. May 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9977-4.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The career exploration program will take place in classrooms of 12th graders in 22 randomly selected schools. The program guides and encourages students to identify their strengths, interests and talents; to consider their barriers and constraints; to identify people who can support them; to identify suitable and interesting careers; and to make plans to pursue a career path aligned with their strengths and interests. Facilitators are a few years older than the participating students, typically enrolled in tertiary education, but from a similar community as the participating students. This helps the students to relate with the facilitators. In addition to the in-person meetings, facilitators will also use WhatsApp groups to interact with the students and for the students interact with each other. Further, facilitators will have bilateral conversations with the students. The partner organization conducting the career exploration program provides materials on a wide range of career paths for all participating students.
Intervention Start Date
2023-05-01
Intervention End Date
2023-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Making plans for a professional future
Interest-based selection of a career
Intention to enroll in higher education
Intention to enroll in job-qualifying training
Preparing for entrance exams
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Confidence
Locus of control
Expected age at marriage
Intention to work in the future
Intention to work after getting married
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Methodologically, we will conduct a clustered randomized controlled trial with randomization at the school level.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
In office by a computer using Stata
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
45 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
7500-8500 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
22 schools with program, 23 schools in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
0.20 standard deviation, 80% power
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IFMR Human Subjects Committee
IRB Approval Date
2022-08-09
IRB Approval Number
IRB00007107
IRB Name
Ethics Comission University of Konstanz
IRB Approval Date
2022-06-27
IRB Approval Number
27/2022
Analysis Plan