Socio-Emotional Skills in Tanzania

• In Event: Predictive Validity of Soft Skill Measures: Evidence from Around the Globe

Proposal

This presentation will go into detail on the study the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab, BRAC, and Innovations for Poverty Action that examines which socio-emotional skills matter most in Tanzania for individuals in the school-to-work transition. Several recent randomized control trials have demonstrated the importance of socio-emotional skills for income and entrepreneurship (Acosta, 2018; Campos et al., 2017; Chioda et al., 2023). However, few have delved into the importance and measurement of individual skills, and how the importance of skills varies with gender and context. Here, the team working to unpack socio-emotional skills with a framework of 14 skills, intended to span the range of socio-emotional skills, and delineated into 2 self-awareness skills, 2 social awareness skills, 5 self-management skills, and 5 relationship management skills. Using a sample of 4800 men and women, ages 16-27 who are neither full-time students nor employed full time, the team randomized which individuals would be invited to “awareness” oriented training, “management” oriented training, or both sets of training. This research design allows for the assessment of predictive validity of one self-report scale and at least one behavioral measure (scenario-based measures and tasks) for each of the 14 socio-emotional skills at both midline and endline. Outcomes include several aspects of economic empowerment ranging from income generation to aspirations to decision-making power over the use of capital and assets. The team will also have the opportunity to examine how predictive validity varies with perceived social norms, and the predictive validity of these measures in examining attendance and mental health.

REFERENCES

Acosta, P. M. (2018). The role of cognitive and socio-emotional skills in labor markets. IZA World of Labor.

Campos, F., Frese, M., Goldstein, M., Iacovone, L., Johnson, H. C., McKenzie, D., & Mensmann, M. (2017). Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa. Science, 357(6357), 1287-1290.


Chioda, L., Contreras-Loya, D., Gertler, P., &

Carney, D. (2023). Making Entrepreneurs: The Return Training Youth in Soft Versus Hard Business Skills.

Author

• Smita Das, Innovations For Poverty Action