Evaluation report
Advancing the Agency of Adolescent Girls
Eric V. Edmonds, Benjamin Feigenberg, Jessica Leight ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001A randomized controlled trial tested whether life skills training could be taught to girls in grades six and seven in Rajasthan, India. The school-based intervention was delivered to 2,459 girls and aimed to develop agency, gender norms, and socio-emotional skills. The programme successfully increased girls' life skills and agency, improved gender attitudes, and reduced school dropout rates by approximately 25 percent, with effects persisting through the transition to high school.
Key points
- Life skills intervention increased agency and socio-emotional support in early adolescent girls
- Girls exposed to the intervention showed more equitable gender norms
- School dropout rates declined by approximately 25 percent among intervention participants
- Effects persisted from seventh grade through transition to high school
- Study design used a clustered randomized control trial with 2,459 girls
Limitations
The document does not provide details about the specific content of the life skills curriculum, the duration or intensity of the intervention, or whether effects were sustained beyond the transition to high school. Mechanisms explaining how the intervention reduced dropout are not explained.
Abstract
Can life skills be taught in early adolescence? Using a clustered randomized control trial, this study analyzes the impact of a school-based life skills intervention in grades six and seven within a sample of 2, 459 girls in Rajasthan, India. Our evidence suggests that the intervention is successful in developing stronger life skills including increased agency, more equitable gender norms, and stronger socio-emotional support. Girls also drop out of school at a lower rate: we observe an approximately 25 percent decline in dropout that persists from seventh grade through the transition to high school.