Role models among us : experimental evidence on inspirations and gender disparities set in stones

Historical monuments and statues mediate a conversation between the past and present. In this randomised controlled trial, we test the presence of such communications and their consequences. Focusing on a cohort of primary school students in India, we study the role modelling effect of historical statues. Students in the treatment group were exposed to a short virtual tour of otherwise locally present yet then inaccessible statues due to the Covid pandemic. The placebo group watched a video on the same role models, comprising of images of these role models instead of their statue. There was a third pure control group. Immediately after the 6-minute intervention, students watching the treatment video performed better than the placebo and control groups in a memory test. We detect improvements in treated students' academic performance after a month, which are sustained after 6-months. The treatment affects only boys suggesting that the lack of female role models and their statues may attribute to this gender gap in academic performance.