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. 2012 Feb 3;335(6068):582-6.
doi: 10.1126/science.1212382. Epub 2012 Jan 12.

Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: a policy experiment in India

Lori Beaman  1 , Esther Duflo, Rohini Pande, Petia Topalova
Affiliations

Female leadership raises aspirations and educational attainment for girls: a policy experiment in India

Lori Beaman et al. Science. .

Abstract

Exploiting a randomized natural experiment in India, we show that female leadership influences adolescent girls' career aspirations and educational attainment. A 1993 law reserved leadership positions for women in randomly selected village councils. Using 8453 surveys of adolescents aged 11 to 15 and their parents in 495 villages, we found that, relative to villages in which such positions were never reserved, the gender gap in aspirations closed by 20% in parents and 32% in adolescents in villages assigned a female leader for two election cycles. The gender gap in adolescent educational attainment was erased, and girls spent less time on household chores. We found no evidence of changes in young women's labor market opportunities, which suggests that the impact of women leaders primarily reflects a role model effect.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Gap in Aspirations, Educational Outcomes and Time Use. The gray, white and black bars represent difference in the normalized average of aspirations of parents for their adolescent boys and girls (leftmost panel) and the difference in normalized average of aspirations, educational outcomes and time spent on domestic chores, between adolescent boys and girls themselves in village councils that have never been reserved, have been reserved only once and have been reserved twice for a female leader respectively. The error bars represent the 95-percent confidence interval.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Potential Channels: Gap in Young Adult Educational Outcomes, Young Adult Labor Market Outcomes, Young Adult Time Use, and Access to Public Services The gray, white and black bars represent the gender gap in normalized average of young adults educational and labor market outcomes, adult time use and access to employment generation schemes, in village councils that have never been reserved, have been reserved only once and have been reserved twice for a female leader respectively. The error bars represent the 95-percent confidence interval.
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