Two Assistant Professor at Stanford University are looking for Research Assistants (based in Delhi) who are interested in economics/policy research.
- Post title: Research Assistant
- Project Title: Gender Discomfort Gap
- Principal Investigators:
- Dr. Saad Gulzar, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Stanford University
- Dr. Salma Mousa, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Yale University
About the Project
Social trust is a strong correlate of social, economic, and political development, yet we know little about how to measure it in the real world – and how it varies by gender. This project aims to assemble evidence on everyday interactions that require social trust in general, and on how women may experience these interactions differently due to safety concerns and gender-regressive social norms. We implement a cross-country RCT that measures real-world trusting behaviors – from helping a stranger with directions, to lending a stranger one’s mobile phone. These baseline statistics are a first attempt at constructing a cross-comparable measure of social trust — on average, and broken down by gender — around the world. Pilot data show that women are reluctant to trust even other women – pointing to norms around being “invisible” in public spaces” – but that the trust deficit widens dramatically when women are approached by male strangers, suggesting that the threat of violence may determine trust outcomes.
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The first component of this study estimates the causal effects of everyday contact with individuals from different genders. We randomly assign female pedestrians in India to be approached by either a male or a female RA. The RA asks the pedestrian for simple directions, to borrow a cell phone, or simply drops a bag of groceries near the pedestrian. A nearby RA then documents the pedestrian’s comfort level via outcomes like whether the pedestrian acknowledged the RA, stopped to engage or walked away, and attempted to give directions or not. We expect to reach sample size (n = 2000) in the city. We then flip the experiment and randomly assign a female vs. male RA to approach male pedestrians, thus allowing us to estimate mens’ discomfort around women.
Our goal is to run a field experiment in several countries across the world to document the prevalence of the broader phenomenon of (dis)comfort with inter-gender interactions. We call the gap between rates of responding to different-gender relative to same-gender RAS, the “Intergender Discomfort Index.”
Roles and Responsibility
The responsibility of the RA shall include but not be limited to:
- Preparing for experiment such as scouting locations, preparing the props (grocery bags etc.) and other miscellaneous tasks in the field that are required to be performed in order to facilitate the smooth conduct of the experiment.
- Carrying out the experiments (asking strangers for directions, dropping groceries, or asking to borrow a mobile phone)
- Recording behavioral outcomes using an online survey tool (kobo-form)
- Presenting on-field experiment outcomes observed to PIs
- Ensuring that quality standards are met (that experimental and ethical protocols are followed)
- Reporting problems in experiment to PIs and brainstorming solutions
MUST CHECK: Internship Opportunity at IIT Bhubaneswar
Required Qualification
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics or related disciplines
- Previous internship/work experience in research/consultancy projects/organisations (internships are also recognized as work experience).
- Should be between 22-30 years old and based in Delhi and should be fluent in Hindi & English.
Duration
- 40 hours/week for 3-4 months
Location
- Delhi
How to Apply
- Interested candidates may email their CV along with a cover letter to: surbhighai41@gmail.com
- CLICK HERE, for Official Notification
- Deadline for applications: 30th April 2022.
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