Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcasts
  • About Us
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Cold Call Podcast
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      Curbing Adult Student Attrition: Evidence from a Field Experiment
      11 Mar 2015Working Paper Summaries

      Curbing Adult Student Attrition: Evidence from a Field Experiment

      by Raj Chande, Michael Luca, Michael Sanders, Xian-Zhi Soon, Oana Borcan, Netta Barak-Corren, Elizabeth Linos, Elspeth Kirkman and Sean Robinson
      This paper by Michael Luca and colleagues demonstrates how insights from behavioral economics can improve attendance habits among adults in literacy and numeracy programs. In a field experiment consisting of 1,179 adult learners in England, the authors sent behaviorally-informed text messages and organizational reminders to students. The messages led to large increases in attendance rates, and the effects persisted over the three weeks of the campaign. This simple intervention provides a low cost approach for organizations looking to improve attendance and engagement.
      LinkedIn
      Email

      Author Abstract

      Roughly 20% of adults in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) lack basic numeracy and literacy skills. In the UK, many colleges offer fully government-subsidized adult education programs to improve these skills. Constructing a unique dataset consisting of weekly attendance records for 1,179 students, we find that approximately 25% of learners stop attending these programs in the first 10 weeks and that average attendance rates deteriorate by 20% in that time. We implement a large-scale field experiment in which we send encouraging text messages to students. Our initial results show that these simple text messages reduce the proportion of students that stop attending by 36% and lead to a 7% increase in average attendance relative to the control group. The effects on attendance rates persist through the three weeks of available data following the initial intervention.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: February 2015
      • HBS Working Paper Number: 15-065
      • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
        Trending
          • 24 Feb 2021
          • Lessons from the Classroom

          What History's Biggest Wars Teach Us About Leading in Peace

          • 25 Feb 2019
          • Research & Ideas

          How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

          • 17 May 2017
          • Research & Ideas

          Minorities Who 'Whiten' Job Resumes Get More Interviews

          • 13 Jul 2020
          • Research & Ideas

          Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

          • 17 Aug 2020
          • Research & Ideas

          What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

      Michael Luca
      Michael Luca
      Lee J. Styslinger III Associate Professor of Business Administration
      Contact
      Send an email
      → More Articles
      Find Related Articles
      • Theory
      • Education
      • Europe

      Sign up for our weekly newsletter

      Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
      ǁ
      Campus Map
      Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
      Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
      Soldiers Field
      Boston, MA 02163
      Email: Editor-in-Chief
      →Map & Directions
      →More Contact Information
      • Make a Gift
      • Site Map
      • Jobs
      • Harvard University
      • Trademarks
      • Policies
      • Digital Accessibility
      Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College