Testing the Impact of Large-scale Digital Support on Students' Paths Toward College Education

Increasing the share of college graduates can boost productivity, promote social mobility, and improve well-being. However, these benefits are often realized when the education system satisfies the demands of the industry. Otherwise, society may face skill shortages. This thesis aims to expand the understanding of how to attract students, particularly minorities, to pursue academic majors linked to the areas facing skill shortages (henceforth, high-rewarding majors). To accomplish this, it examines the impact of digital support that provides training, role models, and information across 20 online lessons. This project, implemented in Ecuador in a nationwide sample of over 45,000 students, aims to support policymakers in introducing complementary strategies to encourage access to college education and mitigate the skills shortage issue. Chapter 1 summarizes strategies to guide students into high-rewarding majors. It studies the advantages of combining traditional interventions with cutting-edge technology to reach large audiences with homogeneous material. Chapter 2 explores students' familiarity with remote education and its integration into their daily routines. Despite the challenges, most students access remote education solutions, but attention is needed for students with no internet connection, as they may be left behind. Chapter 3 tests strategies to support students with below-average lesson completion. It examines the impact of a set of light-touch interventions at the student, teacher, and system levels. Increasing study time boosts knowledge acquisition (test scores), but only when the school community is involved in the learning process. Chapter 4 tests the impact of a video-based role model intervention that promotes STEM and business-related majors. The information conveyed by the role models updates students' beliefs and preferences about pursuing such careers, thereby leading them to make more informed choices of majors. Chapter 5 studies academic aspirations by introducing a novel approach that examines students’ ambitions based on the financial outcomes that the preferred academic major offers. The chapter tests a theoretical proposition suggesting that poverty curtails individuals' capacity to aspire by exploring the difference in aspiration levels by economic status. Chapter 6 revisits the topic of aspirations, but it examines the role of homophily, the tendency to follow others similar to oneself. The chapter reports suggestive evidence that matching students and role models by sex could be effective when aiming to boost their academic aspirations. Chapter 7 summarizes the overall results, illustrates theoretical and practical implications, and identifies areas for further research, placing special emphasis on the external validity of the results.