ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory
Influencing Girls’ Education Choices through Social Media Interventions: Evidence from Peru
Friday, March 20, 2026 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EDT
Vernon Smith Hall (formerly Metropolitan Building), 5183
The ICES Seminar in Experimental Economics and Game Theory of the Spring 2026 semester will feature:
Texas A&M University
Influencing Girls’ Education Choices through Social Media Interventions: Evidence from Peru
Abstract
Although social media plays a central role in teenagers' lives, there is limited evidence on its potential to shape youths' preferences, aspirations and education choices. We conduct a randomized controlled trial in Peru to evaluate the impact of a role model intervention delivered via Instagram, complemented by an information campaign targeting teachers through WhatsApp. The Instagram intervention exposed final-year high school girls to short video reels created by female engineering students, depicting their daily academic and social experiences on campus. Girls were encouraged to follow and engage with the content over six weeks. While the interventions initially reduced self-reported interest in engineering, particularly among girls who were not top performers in math, we find that, three months post-intervention, high-achieving girls in math were significantly more likely to apply for a scholarship to study engineering, especially when their teachers were also targeted. Most notably, the Instagram intervention led to a large increase in girls’ overall college enrollment, regardless of major. Our analysis of underlying mechanisms suggests that exposure to the social media content enhanced girls’ confidence in their ability to succeed in higher education and positively influenced their perceptions of peers’ likelihood of enrolling in university. The add-on teacher intervention appeared to amplify the impact of the Instagram campaign for top-performing girls in math, while attenuating it for their lower-performing peers. Our study demonstrates the promise of leveraging widely-used social media platforms to engage young women and reshape their perceptions of higher education.
For more information about the Seminar Series, please visit the Seminar Schedule homepage.
