Unlocking young women’s potential? The impact of a low-cost career guidance program

Societal expectations and gender norms constrain young people’s career planning, particularly for girls, limiting the role of personal interests in skill-building decisions. This study evaluates a low-cost, 10-hour career exploration intervention through a pre-registered, school-level, clustered ran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of development economics Vol. 179; p. 103662
Main Authors: Asri, Ankush, Asri, Viola, Hoeffler, Anke
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01.02.2026
Subjects:
Career choices
Female labor force participation
Gender norms
India
O15
Female labor force participation
Gender norms
C93
I26
J13
J16
Career choices
O10
India
ISSN:0304-3878
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Societal expectations and gender norms constrain young people’s career planning, particularly for girls, limiting the role of personal interests in skill-building decisions. This study evaluates a low-cost, 10-hour career exploration intervention through a pre-registered, school-level, clustered randomized controlled trial with over 6,000 primarily female students in urban India. The program improved future planning and increased the importance students placed on personal interests in career choices. However, there is no evidence of medium-term impacts on educational or skill-building investments. These findings suggest that while scalable interventions can shift aspirations and planning, structural barriers constrain longer-term behavioral change.
ISSN:0304-3878
DOI:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103662