Parental Aspirations for Children’s Education: Is There a “Girl Effect”? Experimental Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

Abstract

We report on an experiment with poor rural households in Ethiopia, which aimed to boost aspirations for a better future through exposure to documentaries featuring local male and female role models. We explore effects on parents' educational aspirations and investment in children's education. At baseline, educational aspirations are high but biased against girls. At a six-month follow-up, the intervention increased parents' aspirations for their children's education and increased enrollment, time spent in school, and schooling expenditures. There was no catching up of girls relative to boys. Results are consistent with broader local social norms that value education but disfavor women.