UNU-MERIT Working Papers Series
Peer networks and malleability of educational aspirations
Michelle Gonzalez Amador, Robin Cowan & Eleonora Nillesen #2022-028Continuing education beyond the compulsory years of schooling is one of
the most important choices an adolescent has to make; higher education
is associated with a host of social and economic benefits both for the
person and its community. Today, there is ample evidence that
educational aspirations are an important determinant of said choice. We
implement a multilevel, networked experiment in 45 Mexican high schools,
and provide evidence of the malleability of educational aspirations, and
the interdependence of students' choices and the effect of our
intervention with peer networks. Moreover, we find that a video-
intervention, which combines role-models and information about returns
to education, is successful in updating students' beliefs and
consequently educational aspirations.
Keywords: Aspirations, Education, Adolescents, Economics of Networks,
Peer Effects, School transitions, Field Experiment, Social Network
Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trial
JEL Classification: A21, C21, C22, C93, D83, D91, I29
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