Applied Seminar: "Reshaping Adolescents’ Gender Attitudes: Evidence from a School-Based Experiment in India", Seema Jayachandran, Northwestern University

Speaker

Seema Jayachandran, Northwestern University

Biography

Seema Jayachandran is a Professor of Economics at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on economic issues in developing countries, including environmental conservation, gender equality, labor markets, health, and education.

Prior to joining Northwestern, she was a faculty member at Stanford University. She earned a PhD in economics from Harvard University, a master’s degree in physics and philosophy from the University of Oxford where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

Event Details

Seema Jayachandran will be presenting her paper, "Reshaping Adolescents’ Gender Attitudes: Evidence from a School-Based Experiment in India"

Abstract: Societal norms about gender roles contribute to the economic disadvantages facing women in many developing countries. This paper evaluates a school-based intervention in India that engaged adolescents in classroom discussions about gender equality for two and a half years with the goal of eroding their support for restrictive gender norms. Using a randomized controlled trial, we find that the program made attitudes 0.18 standard deviations more supportive of gender equality, or, equivalently, converted 16% of participants' regressive views. In addition, self-reported behavior became more aligned with progressive gender norms, particularly among boys. The effects observed in the short run were still present two years after the program had ended.

To request the Zoom link, please email Heather Royer.