Expanding Horizons: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Adolescents’ Career Information Acquisition

Sofia Badini (), Esther Gehrke, Friederike Lenel () and Claudia Schupp ()
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Sofia Badini: IIASA
Friederike Lenel: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Claudia Schupp: Technical University Munich

No 18490, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: We implement a randomized controlled trial in a low-income context to investigate whether students in lower-secondary school acquire information about potential career paths more effectively if this information is preceded by a task that allows students to explore their own interests and if the career information is ordered by the congruence between the careers and the student’s personality. We find that self-exploration in combination with the personalized display increases student information acquisition. Students also read about more diverse career paths and, low-performing students in particular, shift their focus from occupations that require university education towards those that require a high-school degree and are potentially more achievable.

Keywords: information acquisition; career guidance; education; field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D83 D91 I21 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
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